Gadgets

What are Gadgets?

Our gadget system is similar to the Atlassian Gadget system (and Google Gadgets). When creating or editing a Section, gadgets can be added in a way similar to how you would add or remove a field (see Customizing Sections). Gadgets are best described as self contained webapps; widgets but with more power. Gadgets can have their own fields, HTML templates, and even accompanying scripts and stylesheets. They can interface with the API to display simple information such as the Type of the Resource, or they can perform much more complex functions as demonstrated with the IPAM gadget in the following section.

Available Gadgets

Resource View

This visual element is used on the Resource Holder Section type. The Resource view displays and provides links for the Section and Category for the Resource.

Contact Info

This visual element is used on the Resource Holder Section type. In the Contact Info Gadget, you can track information such as mailing / billing addresses, phone number, and fax number for that Resource. 

Contacts

The Contacts gadget may be used on any Section type to assign a contact (from the Contact Manager) to a Resource. 

To assign a contact, search for and select the desired contact in the search box, then click "Assign". The Contact will show in the list below.

Contacts Action Menu:

The Action Menu (wrench icon) in the contacts gadget has three options:

Set Role: Opens a dialog box to select a role to assign to the contact, add a new role, or delete an existing role. 

Unassign: Unassigns the contact from the resource

View: Redirects to the contact's detail page in the Contact Manager

Refer to the Contact Manager page in the documentation for more detail on working with the Contacts gadget and the Contact Manager. 

Tech Info

This visual element is used on the Resource Holder Section type. This Gadget allows you to list DNS servers, ARIN information, and enable/disable customer privacy. 

IPAM

This gadget is used on the Resource Holder Section type. IPAM Gadget allows you to view, assign, and manage blocks for that resource.

For more information on assigning and managing blocks, see Working with IP Blocks - Assigning IP Space.

Document Storage

The Document Storage gadget allows you to upload documents to a resource, and have those documents accessible to download from the 6connect cloud to your local machine. It may be enabled on any Section type. 

Upload Files

First, ensure the Document Storage gadget is enable for the Section type. Then, select the "Uploader" tab under the Document Manager gadget. 

Click on the "Choose Files" button, and select the file(s) you would like to upload. 

The selected files will show in a list under the Uploader tab. To upload the file(s), click on either the "Upload" button adjacent to the file to upload the individual file, or the "Upload All" button to upload all files listed. You may also choose to remove files from the upload list, or cancel. 

Once the progress bar is filled in, your upload is complete! Your files will show under the "Files" tab.  

Download Available Files

Successfully uploaded files are listed under the "Files" tab of the Document Manager gadget. From here, you can see the file Name, Size, Type, Date, and available Actions. 

To download a file to your local machine, ensure you are on the "Files" tab, then click on the "Download from Cloud" icon. 

If a file is no longer needed, you may delete the file from the Document Manager by clicking on the Delete (trash can) icon. 

DNS

This gadget is used on the Resource Holder Section type. The DNS Gadget shows zones that have the current Resource Holder set as their parent, and provides links to the zone's View Zone page. To go to the View Zone page, you may either click on the zone name, or click on the Action Menu (wrench icon) and select "View Zone". For more information on DNS functions and managing zones, refer to the documentation for the DNS Tab.

DNS Autogenerator

The DNS Autogenerator Gadget uses the Hostname field (6c-hostname-fqdn) of the Resource to generate a list of DNS forward and reverse zone entries based on the blocks assigned to the Resource in the IPAM Gadget It will generate a list of potential zone records - just select the ones you want to create, save the changes and you are ready to push the zones. 

Enabling the DNS Autogenerator

To set up this Gadget, ensure that the Section of the Resource (typically, "Resource Holder" ), has the "Hostname" field (6c-hostname-fqdn) and the DNS Autogenerator Gadget added to the Section. (See: Customizing Sections and Customizing Fields). 

Then, check that the Resource itself has information entered into the "Hostname" field. If the field is already filled out, it will show in the "Fields" information area at the bottom of the Resource Entry page. To add or edit the hostname, click "Edit" at the bottom of the resource entry page, add the information to the Hostname field, and click "Save". 

Once a hostname has been associated with a Resource, and the page refreshed, the DNS Autogenerator Gadget will be visible.

Working with the DNS Autogenerator

One enabled and visible, the DNS Autogenerator Gadget will initially show a short description, the hostname, and a button to "Autogenerate Records". 

Before starting, check that the blocks assigned to the Resource in the IPAM Gadget are correct and up-to-date - the Autogenerator uses these blocks to create the records. If using a DNS Group other than "Default" to hold zones, ensure that the desired DNS Group to hold the generated records has been set up. (See: Working with DNS Groups).

When ready, click the "Autogenerate Records" button. The Gadget will search through the blocks in the IPAM gadget and provide a list of found blocks. 

Next, add in a subdomain if desired (optional), and select the DNS Group to hold the records (required). Click on the listed blocks to select (highlighted green) or deselect (grey) for DNS zone / record creation.

Finally, hit the "Save" button at the bottom of the gadget - the selected forward and reverse DNS records will be created and added into the DNS Group, viewable in the  DNS Tab.

At this point, you may choose to immediately push the autogenerated zone(s), schedule a push, or re-run the workflow to edit the subdomain or group.

DHCP Management

This visual element is used on the Server Section type.

The DHCP Management Gadget in the "Off" configuration:

To enable the DHCP Management Gadget, select the "On" radio button next to "DHCP Services", and click the "Update" Button.

The DHCP Management Gadget in the "On" configuration:

Each of the four sections in the DHCP Management Gadget - Connection Configuration, Server Details, DHCP Pools, and Create a New DHCP Pool - may be expanded to change settings in each area. 

Additional sections may appear in the Gadget once unpushed or pushed configurations are saved. 

For detailed information on working with the DHCP Management Gadget, see DHCP Tab - Managing DHCP Server Configurations.

DHCP Customer Configuration

The DHCP Customer Configuration Gadget allows users to assign IP aggregates to the DHCP server pools and generates DHCP Server Configuration changes depending on the tag(s) and DHCP options selected. 

These configurations are then sent to the associated DHCP server Management Gadget as "Unpushed Configurations", where they may be held until a manual or schedule push occurs. 

Before You Begin

Before using the DHCP Customer Configuration Gadget, the following should be set up in ProVision:

• The associated DHCP server should be created in ProVision and set up in the DHCP Management Gadget (See: DHCP Tab).
• Add the DHCP Customer Configuration Gadget to the desired Section. You may want to create a specific "DHCP Customer" Section for DHCP customer entries (See: Customizing Sections).
• Have, or set up APNIC DHCP Aggregates from the IPAM Tab with the desired IP space type, Region(s), Tags, and any desired VLAN criteria. Regions are a required field when assigning IPs from the DHCP Customer Configuration Gadget. 
• If you are planning on Direct Assigning the DHCP blocks in the Customer Configuration Gadget, ensure that the desired blocks in the DHCP are split to individual /32 or /128 size. Smart Assign and Smart Browse will automatically split the block to assign the correct size. 

Associate with DHCP Server

Once the Gadget is enabled, the first step is to associate it with an already-created DHCP server in ProVision. Select the DHCP Server to link to, and click "Continue". 

Assign IP's

Next, Assign IP's for Pools from DHCP Aggregates. You may Direct Assign, Smart Assign, or assign from Smart Browse based on the selected criteria.

Blocks must be out of "DHCP Available", and have an assigned Region. 

Once assigned, a Pool Name will be automatically generated under "Resource". Pools may be unassigned by clicking the "Unassign" button. 

Set up Configuration

Once IP's have been assigned, the "Configuration" tab will appear. Click on the tab, and then select or deselect the DNS Server associated with the Customer, add Option 82 Elements, Add Circuit ID text, and add notes if desired. Use the "Preview" field to confirm the accuracy of the data, and select the status as "Activate" or "Terminate". 

When done, click "Update Configuration". The configuration will be sent to the associated DHCP server's DHCP Management Gadget. 

Peering Session

This visual element is used on the Router Section type. In Peering Sessions Gadget, by clicking on the Action Menu (wrench icon) you can perform basic session edit functions such as Edit, Config Manager, Email, Admin Up/ Down, and Delete. For additional information on Peering, see Peering v2.

Peer Groups

The Peer Group Gadget allows you to add peer groups for IPv4 and IPv6 for a selected exchange from a router's Resource Entry page.

To do this, simply select the exchange, type in a Peer Group name in the text box, select IPv4 or IPv6, the click "Add Group".

Peer Groups added from this gadget will be then be available to select in the "Add Session" dialog box in the Peering tab.

For additional information on Peering, see Peering v2.

Peering VRF

The Peering VRF Gadget allows you to add VRFs from a router's Resource Entry page.

Enabling "VRF Support" in the Admin home page under "Peering Settings" will automatically add the VRF gadget to the router Section.

Creating your own Gadgets

6connect provides XML specifications for users interested in creating their own gadgets for ProVision. See the XML Specifications section linked below for more information.