The network registration system for the telecommunications

Training
User administration
Inventory Management System
Inhoud
1 User data model .................................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Users ........................................................................................................................................... 5
1.2 User groups ................................................................................................................................ 6
1.3 Account policy ....................................................................................................................... 8
2 Bulk loaders ....................................................................................................................................... 12
3 Contacts .............................................................................................................................................. 16
4 Equipment Types ................................................................................................................................ 18
4.1 Open Node types form ............................................................................................................. 18
4.2 Find Node type ......................................................................................................................... 18
4.3 Information on Node Types form ............................................................................................. 19
4.4 Create new node type ............................................................................................................... 20
4.5 Store Node type settings ........................................................................................................... 21
4.6 Define layout ............................................................................................................................ 22
6 Workflow ......................................................................................................................................... 124
6.1 Open Order form ..................................................................................................................... 124
7 Workflow - Order types .................................................................................................................. 129
7.1 Creating a process flow .......................................................................................................... 130
7.1.1. Create new process flow .................................................................................................... 130
8 Queues .............................................................................................................................................. 134
9 Extra Fields ....................................................................................................................................... 137
10 IP Management ............................................................................................................................ 140
Open IP range form................................................................................................................................... 140
IP range form overview ........................................................................................................................ 140
10.1 Create New Range ................................................................................................................ 141
10.2 Create sub range ........................................................................................................................ 141
10.3 Edit (sub) range ....................................................................................................................... 142
10.4 Merging of (sub-)ranges...................................................................................................... 143
10.5 Delete (sub) range ................................................................................................................... 143
10.6 IP Address overview ............................................................................................................... 144
10.7 Assign IP Address ................................................................................................................... 145
10.8 Bulk loader usage IP management .......................................................................................... 146
11 Vendor ......................................................................................................................................... 150
12 Contracts ...................................................................................................................................... 152
13 Combo boxes ............................................................................................................................... 155

CopC
 IMS Training

Part

CopC
1 User data model
This chapter explains the user model.

The IMS application is a user-based system. All persons and/or systems require a user account to be able to
use the IMS functions and/or data.

One account policy with several settings is in place which applies to all user accounts of 1 IMS environment. An
IMS environment can consist of multiple IMS applications (websites, webservices) accessing 1 database where
the database may contain multiple IMS schema’s. The account policy is an IMS global configuration and the
details are explained in a separate chapter.

One or more user accounts can exist within an IMS environment. Each user account has a password based on
the account policy settings. A user account can be related to one or more user groups. Further details are
explained in a separate chapter.

One or more user groups can exist within an IMS environment to which certain permissions are configured that
range from being able to open IMS, accessing certain forms with read only or write access. Further details are
explained in a separate chapter.

Block diagram: User data model relation

4 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

1.1 Users

By clicking on the search field button, a list of users is displayed.

In the user details personal information like full name and contact details can be found and also specific details for
IMS like whether the user is active, if a specific screen should be opened on log-in, whether the user is blocked or
blocked during certain hours and if he/she is a GEO user, which means that GPS coordinates can be accessed via
internet.

At the bottom of the screen the user groups this user belongs to are listed (can be more than one).

5 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

1.2 User groups
In the user group menu, you’ll find all user groups with their respective authorizations.

The groups can be defined according the roles and responsibilities and users are added to the groups according to
their needs. A user can be added to multiple groups.

The trainer will go over the various possibilities.

6 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

To be able to login to IMS the following minimum permissions must be set to at least 1 of the user groups that is
related to a user account.

7 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

1.3 Account policy
In IMS there is an account policy in place which controls passwords related settings globally, meaning that the
account policy applies to all accounts in one IMS environment. The account policy has been setup to allow for
different settings based on the companies account and password rules.

The Accounts Policy form can be accessed as follows:

The account policy settings are divided into 2 categories, password policy and account lockout policy.

The following settings control the password policy:

• Enforce password history

This security setting determines the number of unique new passwords that must be associated with a
user account before an old password can be reused. The value must be between 0 and 24 passwords.

This policy enables administrators to enhance security by ensuring that old passwords are not reused
continually.

Default: 6

8 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

• Maximum password age

This security setting determines the period (in days) that a password can be used before the system
requires the user to change it. Passwords can be set to expire after a number of days between 1 and
999, or to never expire by setting the number of days to 0. If the maximum password age is between 1
and 999 days, the Minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age. If the
maximum password age is set to 0, the minimum password age can be any value between 0 and 998
days.

Note: It is a security best practice to have passwords expire every 30 to 90 days, depending on the
environment. This way, an attacker has a limited amount of time in which to crack a user's password
and have access to the network resources.

Default: 42.

• Minimum password age

This security setting determines the period (in days) that a password must be used before the user can
change it. A value between 1 and 998 days can be set, or immediate changes can be allowed by
setting the number of days to 0.

The minimum password age must be less than the Maximum password age, unless the maximum
password age is set to 0, indicating that passwords will never expire. If the maximum password age is
set to 0, the minimum password age can be set to any value between 0 and 998.

Configure the minimum password age to be more than 0 to enforce password history to be effective.
Without a minimum password age, users can cycle through passwords repeatedly until they get to an
old favorite. The default setting does not follow this recommendation, so that an administrator can
specify a password for a user and then require the user to change the administrator-defined password
when the user logs on. If the password history is set to 0, the user does not have to choose a new
password. For this reason, enforce password history is set to 1 by default.

Default: 1

• Minimum password length

This security setting determines the least number of characters that a password for a user account may
contain. A value of between 1 and 14 characters can be set, or if no password is required, by setting
the number of characters to 0.

Default: 6

• Password complexity

This security setting determines whether passwords must meet complexity requirements.

If this policy is enabled, passwords must meet the following minimum requirements:

o Not contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two
consecutive characters
o Be at least six characters in length
o Contain characters from three of the following four categories:
o English uppercase characters (A through Z)
o English lowercase characters (a through z)
o Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
o Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %)
o Complexity requirements are enforced when passwords are changed or created.

Default: Enabled

9 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

 • Use password hash

Store passwords by hashing

This security setting determines whether IMS stores passwords in the database using hashing instead
of encryption.

Hashing makes it almost impossible to turn a hash back into its original string, thus making it almost
impossible to determine the stored passwords should access be acquired to the IMS database.

Enabling or disabling the use password hash function requires users to change their passwords.

Default: No

The following settings control the account lockout policy:

• Account lockout duration (minutes)

This security setting determines the number of minutes a locked-out account remains locked out before
automatically becoming unlocked. The available range is from 0 minutes through 99,999 minutes. If the
account lockout duration is set to 0, the account will be locked out until an administrator explicitly
unlocks it.

If an account lockout threshold is defined, the account lockout duration must be greater than or equal to
the reset time.

Default: 30

• Account lockout threshold

This security setting determines the number of failed logon attempts that causes a user account to be
locked out. A locked-out account cannot be used until it is reset by an administrator or until the lockout
duration for the account has expired. A value between 0 and 999 can be set on failed logon attempts. If
the value is set to 0, the account will never be locked out.

Default: 3

• Reset account lockout counter after

This security setting determines the number of minutes that must elapse after a failed logon attempt
before the failed logon attempt counter is reset to 0 bad logon attempts. The available range is 1
minute to 99,999 minutes.

If an account lockout threshold is defined, this reset time must be less than or equal to the Account
lockout duration.

Default: 1

10 Copyright 2018 - VC4 BV

IMS Training

Part

2
 2 Bulk loaders

In the bulk loader screen, a list of all pre-defined bulk loaders can be found.

If a bulk loader is selected an Excel sheet will be generated by clicking the button:

For example, the Customer bulk loader:

The first row displays ‘Fixed Fields’ and ‘Variable Fields’

Fixed Fields are the columns that cannot be removed and always need to be filled-in.
Variable Fields are the columns that are not mandatory.

The second row displays the column names that can be used to load data.
The following columns need always to be filled:

Rownum – to identify all lines, so errors can be addressed

Action – ADD/UPDATE/DELETE
Entity – already filled-in when generating the sheet

Id – identification of the database record in case of update or delete /

Name – customer abbreviation (identification of customer if ID is unknown)
FullName – full name of the customer (also unique identification of the customer)

The other fields are only filled in case this data needs to be added or changed.

Exercise: Create a customer bulk loader sheet and fill in the following details:

Rownum: 1 – 5
Action: ADD (5 rows)
Entity: Customer (5 rows)
Id: empty
Name: CUST1.x – CUST5.x (5 rows)
Full Name: CUSTOMER 1.x – CUSTOMER 5.x (5 rows)

Copy everything (all fields) excluding row 1

Paste the copied data into the bulk loader screen of IMS.
Click on the execute button on the bottom right of the screen.

The data will be loaded, and the screen will show the result for each row. (Success)
IMS Training

Part

3
 3 Contacts
In IMS contacts can be registered for Customers, Groups or Sites.

Persons or groups can be registered as contacts and can be related to Customers, Sites or Groups.

Exercise – Create new contact and relate to customer

Open the Create New Contact screen and fill in your own name and details. Press Save.

Click on the ‘Relate Contact To’ button and relate to the first customer that was created in the bulk loader
exercise.
IMS Training

Part

4
 4 Equipment Types

IMS is equipment and vendor independent, so that all equipment types can be modeled.

IMS users with the appropriate user-permissions can model equipment.

4.1 Open Node types form

4.2 Find Node type

4.3 Information on Node Types form
The Node Type/Construction form consists of 3 main parts:

Section 1:
This is the layout of the equipment
Every rectangle is a slot, that can be defined in section 2 and adjusted in section 3

Section 2:
Tab pages with Node Type information. These can be used to store Node type settings and create the layout.

Section 3:
In this section the settings related to the layout are visible. Settings can be adjusted by double clicking on the row.

1 2

3
4.4 Create new node type

To create a new node type, press the button ‘New’ on the node types form.

A pop-up screen appears.

Fields to be filled in:

Name: the name of the new equipment type
EquipmentKind: the kind of equipment (MPLS, NODEB, ROUTER)
The other fields are not mandatory
 Exercise: Create new node type

Create new Node type:

Use the following data:

Name: EQx (where x is your team number)
Type of Equipment: MPLS
Vendor: CISCO
IP Type: YES

The screen will look like above.

4.5 Store Node type settings

General Node type settings are stored in tab page "’EquipmentDefinition’ > Details".

Exercise: Store Node Type settings

Fill-in the following info:

Height: 500
Width: 800
Physical speeds: 1S|1GBE|100MB|10MB
Domain: OSN

Press save.
4.6 Define layout
The layout can be defined via the "SlotDefinition" tab page.

The following fields need to be filled in per slot:

SlotRecordNumber: normally starts with 1

Name: Name of the slot
Height: Height of slot
Wide: Width of slot
X-position: Start X-position of slot on screen
Y-position: Start Y-position of slot on screen
CardName: Name of card (most of the times same name as slotname)
CardNameXposition: Start X-pos of the name of the card (0 means, do not
show on screen)
NameXPosition: Start X-pos of the name of the slot (0 means, do not show
on screen)
ShelfDefinition: In case of a multi-shelf node, the type of shelf is selected
 Exercise: Create layout

Create a layout.

It must look like the image below:

Hint:

Use for slot 01:

Number: 1
Slot name: S01
Height: 500
Wide: 100
X-pos 0
Y-pos 0
Card Name: S01
Card Name Xposition: 100
Name XPosition: 100
IMS Training

Part

5
5 Card Settings
Card settings can be viewed and created in the Card Definition Form.

5.1

5.2 Difference between Card name and Card Code

In the CardDefiniton form both Card names and Card Codes can be found.

Ca rd na me :
This is the general name of the card. Normally this is not the part-number.

Ca rd code :
This is the exact part-number of the card.

The Card Code is a "child" of the Card name. One Card name can have multiple Card Codes.
 A button can be found on top of the form to display all card codes.

5.3 Find Card

Card names and/or Card Codes can be found in the Search area.

5.4 Information on CardDefinition Form

When a Card name or Card Code has been opened, the screen exists of multiple tab-pages with
information.

5.4.1 Port Template

This tab page shows the ports related to the Card.
In case the port template tab is not visible, i t means that there are no ports related to that Card.

The Port template exists of the following fields:

Name: name of the port (like P01, /1, etc)

Interface: type of interface (RJ45, SC/PC, etc.)
Speed: capacity of the port (2MB, 1GBE, etc.)
Type: BI (bi-directional) ; UNI (uni-directional)
Create TX: Create TX (transmit) ports Y/N
Create RX: Create RX (receive) ports Y/ N
Description: Description of the port
Sequence number: Sequence number to order the ports in a logical order
5.4.2 Internal Port Template
Some Card names or Card Codes have internal (logical) ports, like some Ethernet cards.
In that case those internal ports will be listed in tab page "Internal Port Template".

When this tab page is not visible, it means there are no internal ports related to this Card Name/Card
Code.

5.4.3 Card Codes

The Card Codes tab provides information which Card Codes have been related to the Card Name.

When this tab is not visible it means that there is no Card Code related to the Card Name.

5.4.4 Nodes where card is used

This tab pages provides information where this card is being used, with related info.

When this tab is not visible, it means this card is not place in any equipment.

5.4.5 Ports related to this card

This tab pages lists all ports in the network that are related to this card.

It also provides related port info, like status, card/port name, slot number, circuit on that port.

5.4.6 Cards per slot

The tab page "Card per slot" lists in which slots of which equipment kind the cards can be inserted.

5.4.7 Sub-Cards
In case of a (carrier) card that have sub-cards (card-in-card) defined in IMS, a tab page will be visible
to show the relation between card and sub card.

5.5 Create new cards

5.5.1 Create new Card Name

Create a new card in IMS, click on the ‘New’ button.

5.5.2 Add Card Code

To add card codes to a card, click on the ‘Add CardCode’ button.

5.5.3 Add ports

A Card Name or Card Code can have ports.

In case Card Code(s) is being used, the Card Code will have the ports related to it.

The following fields are available to create the correct port names:

Name: This is the name of the port, excluding the port number.
So, to create port "P1", this field contains the "P"
Start port This is the sequence number of the first port.
So, to create P1 till P10, this field contains "1"
Number of ports This field indicates the amount of ports to create.
InterfaceDefiniton Interface type of ports
Speed: Speed/Bandwidth of the ports (or connections that can be connected to it).
In case the port can handle multiple speeds, the speeds must be
separated by a piper symbol "|". E.g.: 64K|128K|512K|1024K|1984K|

Press save to create the ports.

5.5.4 Add internal ports
A Card Name or Card Code can have internal ports.
In case Card Code(s) is being used, normally the Card Code will have the ports related to it.

5.5.5 Sub slots

Some Cards or Card Codes have sub slots to be able to insert sub-cards.

To create and define sub slots, press the button ‘Create sub-slots’
A new button will appear on the top of the card screen:

Now the layout of the sub slots can be defined in the Node Types form. This is the same form where
the layout of the equipment is being modeled.

Similar to the define the layout of equipment, the layout of the sub slots can be created via tab page
"SlotDefinition"

5.5.6 Copy Card Settings

Card Settings can be copied from one card (code) to the other.

Exercise: Create Cards

- Create Card with the following name: CARDTEAMx, where x is your team number
- Add Cardcode: CODEx, where x is your team number
- Add 12 ports to card code.
N ames: P1 - P12
Speed: 2MB
Press save.

- Change port name P12 into P999 and port speed P999 must be 34MB

- Create another card: CARD2TEAMx, where x is your team number

- A d d card code CODE2x, where x is your team number
- Add 2 ports to card code
Names: P1-P2
Speed: 1S
Press save.
5.6 Cards per Slot
Before a card can be inserted into a slot of an equipment shelf, the relation between the cards/card
codes and the slots needs to be made.

The same is applicable for sub cards in carrier cards.

This relation can be stored in the Card-per-Slot form.

5.6.1 Make Card-Slot relation

To create a card-slot relation, select node type and card in the search box on the left.

Select the Card Code and left-click on the slot to create the relation. The slot colors purple.
It’s also possible to create a relation of one card and multiple slots (one card occupies 2 or 3 slots at
once), in that case right-click on the other slot(s), those will color green.
 Exercise: Create Card-Slot relation

Create Card-Slot relation between:

Name: CARDTEAMx, card code: CODEx > slot 1,2 and 3 of Node type EQx
(where x is your team number)

Name: CARD2TEAMx, card code: CODE2x > slot 4 and 5 (simultaneously), of Node type EQx
(where x is your team number)

Create a new node of the new node type. G i v e i t a n y n a m e and place it on any location.
Insert some cards and let the trainer check this node.
IMS Training

Part

6
6 Workflow
A complete workflow system has been integrated into IMS. Every process can be created easily by
users who have the correct permissions.
Examples of processes that can be created:
- Service Delivery (Create customer and/or platform services)
- Fault Handling (Solve network problems)
- Capacity Management (create new network capacity and network migrations)
- Planned Work (Scheduled Network maintenance)
- BID management

- etc.

In the IMS menu, a button ‘Order’ is found with 3 sub-menu options:

‘Order’-‘Order type’-‘Queue’

6.1 Open Order form

As in every form in IMS, a small search screen is found on the top left corner.
Existing orders can be searched and selected by status (open/closed) and/or type (order/trouble
ticket)
The tab details consist of multiple information fields:

Parent order In case of a sub-order this field contains the parent order
number.
Name: The identification of the order
OrderType: The workflow process
Type: Order or Trouble ticket
OrderStatus: Status of order (Open/Closed)
Severity : Severity of order/TT (1 to 4)
Priority: Priority of order/TT (1 to 4)
LeadTime: Number of days extra
Customer: Customer ID
Description: Free text field
PlannedStartDate Date the order should be started
PlannedStopDate Date the order should be completed
DeliveryDate Date of delivery of the order
ContactDetails Contact details

Complete Order

This tab page lists all the tasks within an order/TT, with related status, dates, lead times and
users.

Logging (All)

Automatically when an action is done with an order/TT task a log note is being created by IMS.

The following information is being stored:

- order number
- user who performed action
- date of action + time
- action description

All extra fields (tab only appears when extra fields are configured)

Every workflow can have its own related order/TT fields that can be set up by the admin user.
The "All extra fields" tab lists all fields of all order/TT tasks that belong to the main order.
Bill Of Materials (tab only appears when applicable)

A list of all materials used/necessary for execution of the order

Related Objects

All objects (nodes, circuits, sites etc.) related to the order. Every new object created in which this
order number is used is automatically added to the list.

WF Graphical

An interactive graphical representation of the order in a flow diagram.

GeoMap

A geographical representation of the objects in the order.

Overview of Order form

On the left in the red box the queues are found (department message boxes in which the tasks are
created); on the top red circle the tab is found with all orders/tasks in the selected queue.

In the green circle the tab is found with all orders assigned to you.

In the yellow circle the tab is found with all orders that are owned by you.

In the purple box below, the tabs are found that are explained above and the CompleteOrder tab
shows all tasks of the selected order (purple circle top left)

When a task becomes active an email is sent to the queue that is listed to perform the task (this is
set-up in the order-type (process))

A user who is assigned to that queue can accept the task, in which case the task is removed from the
department queue and moved to the personal queue of the user that accepted.

He/she can than perform the task and when completed, close the task, so that the next task in the
flow becomes active.
Actions on tasks

Beside opening, accepting and closing order/TT tasks, the following actions can be performed
as well: (if the user has the proper permissions in the department queue)

Assign To assign the task to somebody else, normally to someone

within the same department (queue)
Dispatch To dispatch the order to another department.
Yank To transfer a task from another queue or person to your queue.
Reject If a task is rejected it will go back to the previous queue/dept.

In the menu bar above the order form these tasks and others can be selected:

from left to right:

• Attachments = Add an attachment to the order or task

• Accept = Accept an order or task from a queue and it will move into
“My Orders”
• Assign = Assign an order or task to someone from a queue
• Dispatch = Dispatch an order or task from “My Orders” to a queue
• Yank = Put an order or task directly into “My Orders” even if it is
in someone else’s “My Orders”
• Reject =
• Close = Close the order or task and if applicable the next task in the
order is launched. Depending on the workflow other types of Close may be offered namely:
o Close (YES) = Close this task and proceed with the next task in the YES
path of a YES_NO_LOOP task
o Close (NO) = Close this task and proceed with the next task in the NO
path of a YES_NO_LOOP task
o Close (LOOP) = Close this task proceed with the LOOP task, i.e. going back
to a point in the workflow allowing to redo 1 more or more tasks
• Skip = Skip a task (only if the task type SkipTask=YES)
• Un-Skip = Undo the skipping of a task
• Close complete = Close the complete order including all tasks
• Put order in focus = Put the order or task in focus
• Create or update B.O.M. = Create a bill of material based on the related objects
• Related objects = All objects that are created under this order number (node,
card, circuit, etc.)
• Copy = Copy the order name
• KMZ = Create a KMZ or KML-file which is only used for specific
fiber orders
• Add logging = Add a log note to the order or task
• New = Create a new order
• Delete = Delete an order or task
• Close Form = Close the Order form
IMS Training

Part

7
7 Workflow - Order types

In the IMS menu, a button ‘Order/TT’ is found with 3 sub-menu options:

‘Order’-‘Order type’-‘Queue’

In the Order Type menu, the process flows are defined.

Overview of the Order Type form

In the red box the selected process flow is found, the primary queue for this flow, the indicator whether lead
times are calculated by days (D) or minutes (M), a description (not obligatory), and a name template which
will be applied for all orders that are configured according to this flow (if no template is desired fill in [NONE]
(including the brackets)
In the green box a list of all tasks that are configured for this process flow is found. This list consists of the
following columns:
ID: a record ID assigned by IMS
Name: the name of the task
TaskSort: a number to sequentially list the tasks
Leadtime: a number showing the lead time in days or minutes
Queue: the queue in which the task will be executed
TasksDone: the ID of the preceding task(s)
Description: a description of the tasks
HoursWork: the actual effort to execute the task in hours
AutoWorkflowFailQueue: the name of the queue in which tasks are registered if auto
workflow fails
AutoWorkflowFunction: the automatic workflow function to be performed
AutoWorkflowRelatedObjectsTask: the parameters for the automatic workflow
SkipTask: the type of task (behavior)
Xpos: the horizontal position of the task in the graphical representation
Ypos: the vertical position of the task in the graphical representation

In the yellow box the extra fields that have been configured for the selected task in the green box are found.
(see also chapter EXTRA FIELDS)

7.1 Creating a process flow

The menu bar on the top of the form has the following options/buttons:

Copy: copy a task

New Task: create a new task
Relate extrafields to task: make a relationship between extra fields and the task
Copy related extrafields to task: make a copy of an existing relationship to another task
Create new OrderType: make a new process flow
Delete: delete an existing process flow
Close Form: close the form

7.1.1. Create new process flow

By clicking on the ‘Create new OrderType’ button the following screen opens:

Name: the name of the process flow

Queue: the queue in which the first task

will be created
Dm: calculate lead time in days or minutes

AutoAcceptFirstTask: check if first task must

be automatically accepted

Description: description of the process flow

OrderNameTemplate: template for the name

of all orders based on this flow
After creating the metadata for the process, the tasks can be added.

The ‘New Task’ button opens the screen below:

OrderType: Name of the process flow

(already filled Name: Name of the task
TaskSort: sequential number for
ordering the tasks
Leadtime: number in days or minutes
Queue: queue that should execute the
task
SkipTask: type of task (NO, YES,
YES_NO_LOOP,
BACKLOOP)
HoursWork: effort in hours
Description: description of the task

After all tasks are created, the tasks can be related to each other (create the flow)

This can be done in the task matrix by filling in the column TasksDone (for easy sequential flows) or in
the WF Graphical view (for more complex flows)

In the matrix fill in the ID of the preceding task in the TasksDone column (so for the first task this
column remains empty)

In the WF Graphical view first sort the tasks as they will appear all on top of each other in the screen.
Select the task and drag it with the mouse (left mouse button) to the desired position in the flow;
repeat this as many times as necessary until all tasks are in a position that represents the process
flow.

To relate the tasks, right-click on a task to open the screen below:

Here new tasks can be created, extra fields related or copied to a task, task updated (SkipTask type,
description etc.), task deleted or ‘Connect from task->’ a screen with all tasks will open to select the
task that will precede this task. If the preceding task is a YES_NO_LOOP task, a small arrow on the
right of the task is visible, indicating a further choice; YES, NO or LOOP. In the graphical
representation an arrow will be drawn from the preceding task to the task that was selected, Black if
it’s a normal sequential flow, Red if it represents the NO path, Green if it represents the YES path and
Gold if it represents the LOOP path. (see picture below)
The trainer will give an exercise to perform based on the flows that are customary in your organization.
IMS Training

Part

8
 8 Queues
The execute workflow tasks, the users must be member of a queue; i.e. an email box per department
in which the tasks to be executed are announced and which defines the permissions to execute a
task.

In the screen above the ‘DEPARTMENT1’ queue is shown and the users that are member of this
queue. Every queue has an email address configured that can be a group address or individual
address(es). Multiple addresses can be inserted by dividing them with a piper symbol “|”.

In the columns next to the user name the authorizations per user are defined:

- Yank: the user may grab a task from another user and execute it
- Assign: the user is authorized to assign tasks from the department queue to a user
- Dispatch: the user may dispatch tasks from the department queue to another queue
- OtherPerson: the user may assign tasks to someone outside the department
- Reject: the user may reject tasks
- Reopen: the user may re-open tasks that have already been closed
- Cancel: the user may cancel a complete order

A user can only create orders/TT if he/she is member of the queue that is configured in the order type.

A user can only execute tasks if he/she is member if the queue the tasks is assigned to.

Any task can only be executed and closed by the user that has accepted the task or was assigned to
the task.

Exercise – Create queue

Press the Create New Queue button in the IMS menu bar -
Name the queue: TRAINING_QUEUE.x (where x is your team number) and fill in your own
email address:

From the list of users select all available TEAMx users to be members of this queue:

Press the button

All selected users are now member of the queue and you can assign permissions to them.
IMS Training

Part

9
 9 Extra Fields

The menu option for extra fields is located in the System menu, option ‘Extrafield Group’

The Extrafield menu bar consists of the following options/buttons:

All sql checks: extra fields can be assigned to objects in IMS based
on object characteristics, such as object type, IP type,
Site type etc. To know whether extra fields must be
shown in IMS, sql checks can be defined that do the
selection based on the required characteristics
Add all missing permissions to all groups: to be able to work with extra fields the authorizations
must be added to the user group(s), after all the fields
didn’t exist before they were created. With this button
those authorizations are added to all user groups.
Create new ExtraFieldGroup: extra fields are related to extra field groups, extra
fields can be added to existing groups or create a new
group.
Close Form: Close the Extrafield group form.

By clicking the ‘Create new ExtraFieldGroup’ button, the following screen opens:

Name: name of the group

TableName: name of the DB table to which
the extra fields must be added
FieldName: name of ID field of the table
AddToTab: Tab name to which the group
must be added as a tab page
Caption: Name of the tab page
SqlCheck: sql to be performed (or empty)
SqlCheckGroupValue: Value against which
the group will be displayed
Editable: check, if the group must be
editable by the users
SharedGroup: check, if the group is used for
Workflow extra fields
AutoSave: check, if values must be
saved directly in the DB
An example of a group with extra fields:

The extra fields matrix consists of the following columns:

SqlCheck: same as for the group, but now on field level

SqlCheckValue: same as for the group, but now on field level

ValueType: type of field

LabelText: name of the field as displayed
ColomNumber: the fields can be arranged in columns and rows
SequenceNumber: the row number in the column selected above
Combolist: if applicable, a list of values separated by a piper to choose
DefaultValue: a default value to be displayed in the entry field
FieldFormat: a template for the entry field (like ZIP code ‘NNNN AA’)
ValueCriteria: limits to the values that can be entered
ValuefromSql: the entry value is derived from a SQL query
Mandatory: the entry field must be filled if checked
X-pos: horizontal position of the field on the screen
Y-pos: vertical position of the field on the screen

The menu bar for the extra field options has the following options/buttons:

All Sql checks: same as for group level

Add new Sql check: create a new Sql check to the field
New extrafield: create a new extra field
Add permission to group: add authorizations for the fields to the user group of the user
Add all missing permissions to all groups: see above for extra field groups
Create new ExtraFieldGroup: see above for extra field groups
Delete: delete the entire extra field group
Close Form: close the extra field form
IMS Training

Part

10
 10 IP Management
Open IP range form
The IP range form can be opened via:

-IP > > IP ranges

IP range form overview

Section 1) (red)
Search form to find a specific range using the drop down menu of all ranges.

Search Text
Searching on all details related to IP address or IP range.

Section 2) (brown)
Overview of root ranges.

Single click will open the details in section 3, of that specific range.
Right click will provide a menu with additional options, which are explained in the following chapters.

Section 3) (blue)
Overview of range related information.
All Sub Ranges : Details of subranges related to the selected range.
Details : Editable information for selected range.
History : History of changes done on selected range.
Extra details : Possible to add Extra Fields tab, by means of the “Extra Fields” functionality in
IMS, related to selected range.
Section 4) (green)
Quick overview of details related to highlighted range in tree view.
10.1 Create New Range
To create a new IP range, press

1 2

Section 1)
Mandatory parameters for each range.
Name : A unique range name
IPStartAddress : The network address of the new range (This can be IPv4 or IPv6)
Prefix : Prefix of the new range (for IPv4: 0-32 and for IPv6: 0-128)
Domain : The domain to which the range needs to be assigned.
Parent : The range name of which the new range needs to be the sub range.

Section 2)
Additional references for each range:
Circuit : Related circuit name registered in IMS
Site : Related location name in IMS
Country : Related Country name in IMS
Customer : Related customer name in IMS

Section 3)
Extra info : A free text field.

10.2 Create sub range

− Press create new range button and fill additionally “Parent” with parent range name.
− Via Right mouse click on the Parent range in the tree and select the required sub prefix of “Create
sub range”.
o then choose to create all possible subranges with “Create all free ranges”.
o or a specific range by selecting the start IP from “Select range”
10.3 Edit (sub) range
Step 1 Open the range:

Via Right mouse click on the range, select “Open” (1)

This will open the range in the right pane of the screen with the tab Details:

This enables to:

Modify details of the range : Site, Customer, Country, Circuit and Extra_info
Change the domain : Assigning a sub range of a parent range to a different domain to
distribute ranges to custom domains. The range is not allowed to
overlap existing ranges in the new domain.
For instance for distribution between departments or platforms.
Related IP addresses are migrated to the new domain.
Adjust range size : adjusting the range size is only possible when there is no other range
overlapped by the change, within the same parent range.
Decreasing range size will only work when there is no sub-range outside
the new range size.
Decreasing the range size will also not be possible when there are IP
addresses in use that do not fit within the new range size.
Change the Parent : Changing the parent will be allowed when the subrange fits in the parent
range and does not overlap with existing ranges in the new parent range.
10.4 Merging of (sub-)ranges
To aggregate ranges into one bigger range.
Starting point:

Steps:
1. Merge DCN_0:FF80:0:0:AB:2:AE:10/126 with DCN_0:FF80:0:0:AB:2:AE:14/126 ,
DCN_0:FF80:0:0:AB:2:AE:18/126 , DCN_0:FF80:0:0:AB:2:AE:1C/126
a. Right mouse click on range DCN_0:FF80:0:0:AB:2:AE:10/126
and select “Change Prefix” > “To:124 range(s) to merge:…..”

b.

Result:

10.5 Delete (sub) range

Characteristics:
• Deleting a range is possible when there is no object assigned to any of the related IP addresses.
• When a parent range is removed its sub-ranges are migrated to it’s parent.

Delete is possible via right mouse click on range, in range tree. Select “Delete” > Yes
10.6 IP Address overview

Section 1) (red)
The selected (sub) range details.

Section 2) (blue)
For the tab IP Address Table, the following details are specified.

IP address : The IP address

IPRange Name : Name of the range
Domain Name : Name of the domain
Extra Info : Free format text field
Description : Description
Object : The name of an IMS object of type NODE, CARD, PORT,
RESERVATION or POOL
NonManaged : Non Managed object
Gateway : The option to set one default gateway for this specific subnet.
10.7 Assign IP Address
Right mouse click on IP address, in IP Address Table
− Select “Set in focus”

It is possible to assign the IP address to a node, card or port.

To a node:
Go to node and select toolbar option: “IP” > “Add IPaddress:…..”

To a card:
Right mouse click on a card in a node and select “IP” > “Add IPaddress:….. to Card”

To a port:
Right mouse click on a port and select: “Add IPaddress:…. to Port”
10.8 Bulk loader usage IP management
Bulkloaders can be found in IMS via menu: “BulkLoader” > “BulkLoader”

Here they can be selected from a list:

Valid for all bulkloaders:

Bold : This is a mandatory field and cannot be left empty
Red : This is a unique value meaning only unique values can be provided.

The IpRange bulkloader can be used to create new ranges.

The template can also be made from a ip range grid:

Right mouse click on grid header and select : “Generate bulkloader template”
For this bulkloader the following fields are defined: /

Rownum : Sequence number

Action : ADD , UPDATE or DELETE
Entity : “IpRange”
Id : for ADD remove column
Name : New range name (must be a unique range name)
DomainId : The Domain to which it needs to be assigned.
IPStartAddress : Start IP address for the new range.
Prefix : Subnet mask number without slash, e.g. 24 instead of /24
ParentRangeId : When creating a subrange This field needs to be filled with the parent name.
CountryId : Related Country name
SiteId : Related Site name
CustomerId : Related customer name
CircuitId : Related circuit name registered
ExtraInfo : Free format text field

The IpAddresses bulkloader can be used to create new IP addresses.

The template can also be made from the Ip addresses grid:
Right mouse click on grid header and select : “Generate bulkloader template”

Rownum : Sequence number

Action : ADD , UPDATE or DELETE
Entity : “IpAddress”
Id : for ADD remove column
IpRangeId : The range for this ip address
Ipv6Address : IPv6 address
ExtraInfo : Free format text field
Gateway : to set the gateway for a range
Description : Free format text field
NonManaged : A assignment non-managed entity occupying the IP address.
The IpRelate bulkloader can be used to assign IP addresses to objects.
Usage:
Rownum : Sequence number
Action : ADD , UPDATE or DELETE
Entity : “IpRelate”
Id : for ADD remove column
IpAddressId : This is a multi value column that needs to contain
Ipv6Address:'<value>', IpRangeId:'<value>'
NodeId : The name of a node to be assigned
PortId : The name of a port to be assigned
CardId : The name of a card to be assigned
IpPoolId : The name of a IpPool to be assigned
InternalPortId : The name of an internal port to be assigned
NonManaged : An assignment non-managed entity occupying the IP address.
IMS Training

Part

11
11 Vendor
Suppliers or manufacturers of equipment must be registered in IMS as vendors of the type equipment.
Vendor related agreements can also be registered in IMS, like SLA’s, contacts.

Exercise – Find a Vendor

1. Open the Vendor form.

2. Type in the search field: Infinera

3. Click the Search button or press enter.

The details for the Vendor Infinera are shown.

4. Review the following information to get an understanding of the capabilities of this form.
• List of equipment definitions
• List of Nodes

Exercise – Create a Vendor

1. Click the “Create new Vendor” button on the Vendor Actions button bar.
2. Fill in the following details:
• Name = Vendor-X
• Type = Equipment
3. Click the Save button to create the new Vendor.
IMS Training

Part

12
12 Contracts
Contract with the different vendors can be managed within IMS by registering them in relation to the
specific vendors, for example a maintenance support or installation contract.

Exercise – Find a Contract

1. Open the Contract form.

2. Type in the search field: CONTRACT-99

3. Click the Search button or press enter.

The details of CONTRACT-99 are shown.

Exercise – Create a Contract

1. Click the ”Create new Contract” button on the Contract Actions button bar.
2. Fill in the following details:
• Name = Contract-X
• Vendor = VENDOR-X
• ContractType = MAINTENANCE SUPPORT
• DateStart = 01-01-2018
• DateEnd = 01-01-2020
• DateRenewal = 01-12-2019
• SlaOnSite = 24/7
• SlaMttr = SLA-2HRS
3. Click the Save button to create the new contract.
IMS Training

Part

13
13 Combo boxes

In the system menu the Combobox Data option is found.

In many forms in IMS the user can select values from a list (f.i. location type, circuit service parts
etc.)

The contents of these lists are stored in tables that can be accessed via the Combobox Data
option.

In the Combobox data menu the overview of existing combobox data lists can be found by
clicking on the small arrow on the right of the search field.

To add values to any of the lists, click on the Create new ComboBoxData button.

In the Name field, the name of the list is filled-in

In the Selection field, the value that needs to be added to the list.
 Exercise – Create new Combobox value

Open the Combobox menu and search for the ‘Type_Location’ list.

Click on this list and view the location types that are listed.

Now click on the ‘Create new ComboBoxData’ button and add the value below to this list:

Name: TYPE_LOCATION
Selection: SHOPPING MALL

Press Save.

Now open the Site menu and click on ‘Create New Site’

In the Create Site screen, click on the SiteType field to open the list of Site Types.

The value ‘SHOPPING MALL’ should appear in the list.

-- End of document --