Creating and managing channels

Channels represent the specific interfaces, APIs, services, and so on that are used during deployment activity. Channels associate channel templates with specific hosts and can be fine-tuned to specify details that are particular to a certain host. The system tracks channel changes so you can identify when configuration information has changed.

If a configuration process is associated with a channel template, the channel might contain configuration data. This data is populated when the configuration process is run. The configuration data contains information gathered about the channel by the process identified in the template.

Channels have the following types of properties: those inherited from the channel template and those specific to the channel. Template properties are common among all channels that use that template. Template properties can be overridden within a channel. For more information about properties, see Properties.

To create a channel

1. Click the Topology tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. On the right, click New Channel.
4. Enter a descriptive label for the new channel.
5. Select the template for the channel.
6. Select the load balancer for the channel, or select None if you do not want any load balancing on this channel.

7. Click to highlight the server that you want for the channel.

   Tip

   You can select multiple server hosts to create a new channel of that template type for each of them.

8. Click Create.

To create channel properties

1. Click the Topology tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. Click the label for the channel that you want.
4. In the Properties subtab, click Add Property on the right.
5. Enter a name for the new property.

6. (Optional) Enter a value for the property.

   Tip

   To encrypt the property value, click the Encrypt Value icon next to the value.

7. Click the Submit checkmark icon.

8. (Optional) Continue to add new properties by clicking Add Property again.

   Note

   • You can create properties with identical names, but only the last one defined is used when processing content for that channel.
   • If a channel property has the same name as a template property, the channel property is used to process content for that channel.
   • To enable proxy mode to establish the extra layer of security of connections between the dispatcher server and Remote System Call Daemon (RSCD) targets, define the appropriate properties in each environment. See Setting up NSH properties.

To override a template property with the channel

1. Click the Topology tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. Click the label for the channel that you want to use.
4. In the Properties subtab, under Channel Template, click Override in the Actions menu associated with the property that you want to override.
    This action creates a channel with a field in which to enter the overriding value.

5. Under Value, enter the property value to use to override the template value.

   Tip

   To encrypt the value, click the Encrypt Value icon next to the value.

6. Click the Submitcheckmark icon.

   Note

   When a template property is overridden, the system adds the property as a channel property. To remove the override, either delete the property from the Channel section, or click Reset in the Actions menu for the property in the Channel Template section.

To view configuration drift data

1. Click the Config tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. In the list of channels, click the name of the channel that you want.

4. Click the subtabs to view the channel configuration data, drift detection, or user data.

   Tip

   You can sync channel configuration data either during deployment by allowing a process to use the activity library to sync configuration drifts or by clicking Synchronize in the summary box at the top.

To review configuration history for a channel

1. Click the Config tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. For the channel that you want, click Chronology in the associated Actions menu.
    The system presents the list of summarized configuration records that it has stored for the channel.
4. To compare two configuration records, drag and drop them on the "drop zones" above the list of records, and click Compare.
    A summary comparison of the two records appears.

To modify the label, template, server, properties, or other configuration data for a channel

1. Click the Topology tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. Click the name for the channel that you want to change.
4. Modify the information as needed.
5. To change channel properties, click the Properties subtab and add, change, or delete properties as needed.
6. Click Configuration to review and modify the channel configuration as needed (under the Config tab). (In that window, click Definition to return to the channel definition in the Topology tab.)
7. To save a change, click the Submit checkmark icon for that change.

To view channel historic usage

1. Click the Topology tab.
2. From the left menu, select Channels.
3. Click the name of the channel that you want to view.
   The system presents the channel page, with a summary and subtabs that show:
   • Properties that apply to the channel
   • Environments where the channel is a member
   • All the deployments for which the channel has been used, and for each deployment:
     • How the channel activity was triggered
     • Which piece of content triggered the specific content process