CA Configuration Automation 12.9

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12.9 12.8.6 12.8.5 12.8.4 12.8.3 12.8.2
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Understand and Create Rules

Constraint rules are used to place value constraints on specific types of elements, including the following:
cacatm
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Constraint rules are used to place value constraints on specific types of
CA Configuration Automation
 elements, including the following:
  • Rules in the Indicators, Verification Rules folder (Component Blueprints only)
  • Parameters in the Parameters folder (Services only)
  • Files and directories in the Managed, File System Overlay
  • Registry keys and values in the Managed, Registry Overlay folder
  • Parameters in the Parameter, Rules folder
  • Parameters in the Configuration, Structure Classes folder
  • Files in the Configuration folder
Constraint rules are always associated one-to-one with an element and can be either:
  • Created in and inherited from the underlying Component Blueprint.
  • Created in and applied directly to a service instance.
In addition to the
explicit
 constraint rules that you create, there are
implicit
 constraint rules built in to
CA Configuration Automation
. For example, if you specify a particular value or data type for an element,
CA Configuration Automation
 automatically creates an implicit Check Default or Verify Data Type rule.
When possible, consider creating constraint rules in the Component Blueprint. You create the rule once, and it is automatically inherited by any service that uses the underlying Component Blueprint.
Constraint rules are initiated, viewed, and edited from the Rules field of the selected Component Blueprint.
The number of defined constraint rules or None is displayed in the brackets to the right of Rules. From the drop-down list, you can view a specific constraint rule, view all constraint rules, or add constraint rules.
  • If you select
    Show All Rules
    , a new page is displayed that shows a list of all constraint rules in table format. To change the table sort order, click the appropriate table heading.
  • If you select
    New Rule
    , the Rule attribute sheet is displayed.
  • If you select a specific constraint rule, the name is displayed in the
    Rules
    field and the associated attribute sheet is displayed. You can edit or delete most rules from the attribute sheet.
    The exception is that you cannot edit or delete built-in or
    implicit
    CA Configuration Automation
     rules, such as Check Default or Verify Data Type. You can only view implicit rules.
When a default value is specified in a Component Blueprint, an implicit Check Default rule is automatically created. These default rules are informational (they show in Rule Compliance as Information, with an icon), and let you know when a value deviates from the recommended default.
Explicitly defined constraint rules derive their value from the element or from associated element attribute. The available attributes and the value type vary for each element in
CA Configuration Automation
, so constraint rules vary significantly by element type. For example:
Element Type
Allowable Constraint Rules
File
File Size
File Modification Time
File Owner
File Permissions
File Version
Product Version
Directory
Number of directories
Number of files
Bytes
Depth
Directory Modification Time
Directory Owner
Directory Permissions
Directory Must Exist
File Must Exist
Rules, Parameters, Groups, Registry Keys and Values
Value