You can use the network map group tool to create and delete groups by adding a CSV file.

The following are two example CSV files. The first example includes device members, while the second includes subgroup members.

Member,GroupName,Color
d1,g1,Red
d2,g1,Red
d3,g3,Lemon Yellow
d4,g3,Lemon Yellow
d5,g4,Green
10.10.10.10,g5,Cyan
Member,GroupName,Color
g1,g2,Blue
g2,g3,Blue
g3,g4,Cyan
g5,g6,Red
g7,g8,Magenta

Prerequisites

To use a CSV file to create a group in your network map, the file must include the following three mandatory columns:

  • Member: Includes the member, which can be a device or subgroup, you want to add. The member can be identified through a name or IP address. The device or subgroup must be part of the network map. If the member is a subgroup, it must be a top-level group available in the network map. The member must not be part of any other group. If the member is a device, it should be an orphan device, not part of any existing group.
    Note: If the IP address is used as the identification method for a member, it is expected to be the manager IP address. For managed devices, such as Panorama or Check Point, the expected IP address is the device IP address. If the member is a ESX host group, either group name or host IP address can be specified as the member.
  • GroupName: Includes the name of the new group that you want to create. It must not be part of the network map.
  • Color: Includes the color coding for the group. If the color you want to add is spelled with two words, the words should be separated by a whitespace. For example, Lemon Yellow. Supported colors include Black, Blue, Brown, Cyan, Gold, Green, Grey, Lemon Yellow, Light Grey, Light Red, Magenta, Mustard, Navy Blue, Neon Green, Neon Pink, Olive Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Sea Green, Sky Blue, and Violet.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the VMware Aria Operations for Networks command line interface.
  2. (Optional) To validate your new group before creating it, you can run the network map group tool command with the -v argument.
    To validate a group with subgroup members, for example, run the network_map_group_tool -path <pathToFile> -m group -v command.
  3. To create a group with subgroup members, run the network_map_group_tool -path <pathToFile> -m group command.
  4. To create a group with device members, run the network_map_group_tool -path <pathToFile> -m device.
  5. To delete all groups specified in a given CSV file, run the network_map_group_tool -d -path <pathToFile> command.
  6. To delete all user defined groups, run the network_map_group_tool -d.