Hello again friends!
I'm back with an episode of NetEdit - tweaks I wish were already there!
1. Multi-interface editing. I just spent almost 20 minutes pasting config on 48 individual ports. I'm certain I could have done it quicker with VSCode by copying the list of interfaces and then removing the lines I didn't need, but I wanted to see how long it would take to paste one interface at a time, wait for the refresh, then see where I am, then click on a new line in the new interface port and paste again. Uhm.. It's a long time. I
probably could have done it faster using the CLI, even though there are 14 switches that I'm updating.
I wish: I could edit multiple interfaces at the same time.. int 1/1/1-1/1/48
2. Plus config. (I don't know what to call this but plus config seems accurate.) For example, I have 4 switches with the line ip dns server-address 10.1.1.1, and 10 switches that don't have that line. I can hover over that line (or the (4/14) box) and see what switches have that line, but it's not as easy to see what switches DON'T have that line, and in order to add that line to the missing switches, I have to RETYPE the line (or copy paste, but that's a chore - see #3 below).
I wish: There was a plus button in or near the (4/14) box that I could click and then just check the box to add that line to whatever other switch I want that pops out in that list..
3. Copy - Paste. Sometimes I can easily copy and paste, and sometimes I get nothing. It's probably the browser, but it's sometimes questionable if you get a copy and a paste of the thing you're trying to do, so I often open up a notepad and copy from NE to notepad to make sure I got it - and many times I have to just type what I want. I've also had some strange paste operations that pasted a line that was something I had copied earlier but was overwritten by a new copy, and then suddenly reappeared inexplicably.
I wish: There was a more robust copy/paste, or perhaps a block that shows what's in the buffer, so when I copy something successfully, it shows up and I can see it's good.
4-1. Sticky validation. When you click the validate button, you get a list of things that went wrong with the red circle and the red highlights in the scroll bar. But as soon as you fix one of them, all of them disappear. Scenario - I just removed an old VLAN, but it only exists on 5-6 of the switches, and it's set on random interfaces. I can't tell which switches it's on easily because the "vlan access RNG" hides it until validate happens and I get the red circle. If I change one using the right click, the lines stay highlighted. But if I change a single line (uncheck some of the other switches), the validation is cleared and the marks showing me the way vanish.
I wish: The red buttons stay until I edit that particular line, or if I edit a line that could have fixed that problem it could go yellow triangle instead of disappearing completely - at least until the next time I press the validate button.
4-2. Sticky validation #2. When you click validate and everything is good, the green box pops up and says, "You're good!", and then it goes away. Couldn't we keep the green guy around a little while? At least until I edit another line.
I wish: The green box (or other indicator) stays until I edit another line.
5. Fast Deployment. When I click the deploy button, it takes.. a long time. Sometimes I just want a config pushed and committed and done. It's not going to the core, there's not much danger of messing up, I just need the config on a switch so I can move on. Most of the time I'm just doing tweaks to the config, not changing an IP, Route, or other super extra mega important value.
I wish: We had an option for Fast Deploy. Regular deploy - sure, leave that be. But give me a sub-option to skip the 20 minute checkpoint or whatever it's doing and just send config and wr m.
6. Editor responsiveness. The editor.. Well.. ok - I get that you need to verify each line once a change is made, but the cursor always reverts to where it was and never where I clicked. Keeping the cursor where I put it would help a lot with the speed of getting things done.
I wish: The cursor would stay on the line I clicked after the previous line validation is completed.
7. Deploy from editor. The editor.. Well.. ok - I get that the editor is for editing and verifying config, but it's also config that I want to deploy. Once I click validate and everything is good, then it just... sits there. I kind of expect that once I go to validate and it is good, I should get some sort of prompt or indication that I can deploy. But no - all I get it return to plan. That's fine for me, because I'm getting used to it, but when I was out last week and one of the other guys needed to push a change, well.. it wasn't clear what he was to do.
I wish: Return to plan would change perhaps to a green button that says Return to plan AND DEPLOY THAT BAD BOY! or something.
8. TACACS+ improvements. You had to know this would be on the list.. hah! Would like to see a bit more granular permissions. I can be ok with my Tier1 guys editing switches in buildings, but I don't want them touching the core. Seems to be either you can get in and do all of it or you can't get in and see anything.
I wish: We could set permissions based on roles.
9. Quick Edit. This is sort of related to my (not yet trademarked) Fast Deploy above, but there's not an easy quick way to go in to a switch and change the vlan on a port. I can't do it with Airwave, the Web GUI, or NetEdit. I can cli - conf t - int 1/1/1 vlan access 4. I have Airwave and NetEdit pulled up all the time, but I would rather CLI and do that (on all the switches, not just CX) because create a plan edit plan find the line (might be int 1/1/48 or 3/1/48), edit the line, wait for the line to validate, click the validate .. you get it. Let me just open edit save, even in the network view would be cool (zoom in to a switch or stack and see all the ports like in the web gui of the switch)..
I wish: I could just click a switch, click a port, change the config, save it.
10. Config Collapse. Seems not that hard to pull off, but in VSCode, I can paste in a switch configuration and collapse sections of the config. I'd figure that since configurations are fairly standard that you could collapse it even more, like all the vans, all the interfaces, etc.
I wish: I could collapse the config to make scrolling easier.
Thanks guys! :)
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Phillip Horn
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