Blueprint Management › Manage Global Variables

Manage Global Variables

Global Variables enable you to define a set of name-value pairs that can be used in variable substitution expressions within directives, parameters, and macros. Global variables are independent of the typical server- or service-specific CA Configuration Automation data model, and can be defined manually within the CA Configuration Automation user interface, imported from an existing XML or CSV file, or exported to a CSV file.

CA Configuration Automation displays the global variable repository in a table on the Global Variables page. Global variables require unique variable names and can include only alphanumeric characters, periods (.), parentheses (( )), and underscores ( _ ).

The named values defined in the global variable repository are:

• Stored and evaluated only as strings (they have no specific data type)
• Optional and do not contain default values (not all names require a value and can simply be used to group together other named values)

The Global Variables page lets you create, export, import, and delete the global variables.

To manage the global variables, follow the steps:

1. Click the Management link, then the Blueprints tab.

   The Blueprints tab page appears.

2. Click the Global Variables link (below the main tabs).

   The Global Variables page appears.

To create a global variable:

1. Select Create Global Variable from the Table Actions drop-down list.

   The Create Global Variable dialog appears.

2. Enter the following information in the corresponding field:

   Name

   Identifies the global variable.

   Description

   Describes the purpose of the global variable.

   Value

   Specifies the syntax for addressing global variables for variable substitution using the $(@global_variable_name) format. This expression represents the value of the global variable c at the path /a/b in the Global Variables tree.

   Note: You cannot use variable substitution expressions with name qualifiers that contain colons (:), for example: $(/var1/var2/var3/var3(:2:)/value) is not a valid expression.

3. Click OK to display the new global variable in the tree listing.

To Import the global Variables that have been exported from another instance of CA Configuration Automation:

1. Select Import Global Variables from the Table Actions drop-down list.

   The Import Global Variables dialog appears.

2. Click Choose file and navigate to the exported global variable data file.

   The selected file appears in the Import XML or CSV File field.

3. Click the Ignore Duplicate or Invalid Variables check box to ignore any duplicate or invalid variables in the global variable data file you are importing.

   By default, all entries are imported.

4. Click OK.

   The global variables are imported and appear in the Global Variables table.

To export global variables to an Excel file in a comma separated value (CSV) format:

1. Select Export to Excel from the Table Actions drop-down list.

   The ExportToCsvServlet runs in a web browser, then displays a File Download window.

2. Click Save.
3. The Save As dialog appears with the default file name of GlobalVariables.csv.
4. Edit the default file name, select a location to save the file, and then click Save.

   The CSV file is saved in the specified location.

To delete the global variables:

1. Select one or more global variables that you want to delete.
2. Select Delete Global Variables from the Table Actions drop-down list.
3. Click OK when prompted to confirm the deletion.

   The selected global variables are removed from the table.