Overview Of CustomPackage Options

Products

• VMware Smart Assurance

Issue/Introduction

Details of what the CustomPackage utility can provide NCM users for device drivers. 

Environment

NCM 10.1.X

Resolution

What is a custompackage change?

• The NCM/VoyenceControl device server architecture allows local customizations to device drivers and control/data files in a directory separate from the distribution directory. 
• This enables customers to create modified versions of these files without altering the files distributed with the product. 
• By creating copies of the distributed files and making modifications to the copies, customers are insulated from the possibility of having their customizations overwritten during the application of maintenance or future product releases. 
• This feature is provided through the use of a custompackage directory, which can be searched prior to the device driver package directory distributed with the software.
• Device drivers or control files found in the custompackage directory take precedence over the same files found in the package directory; if they are absent, the system defaults to using the files from the device driver package directory.
• Officially released hot fixes, DSRs, and other driver components will always be installed in the package directory, not in the custompackage directory.

How do I make a custompackage change?

• To make a custompackage change, you must duplicate all directory structure and copy the original file you wish to modify under the custompackage directory.
  
  
• For example:
  • You need to add a filter to the Cisco IOS Router driver to ignore a particular line when checking synchronization between startup and running configs. 
    The original file is located at $VOYENCE_HOME/package/pkgxml/CiscoIOSRouter/CiscoIOSRouter.pkg
  • Copy or create the file(s) and directory structure from the $VOYENCE_HOME/package directory to the $VOYENCE_HOME/custompackage directory:
    

    • mkdir $VOYENCE_HOME/custompackage/pkgxml
      mkdir $VOYENCE_HOME/custompackage/pkgxml/CiscoIOSRouter
      cp $VOYENCE_HOME/package/pkgxml/CiscoIOSRouter/CiscoIOSRouter.pkg $VOYENCE_HOME/custompackage/pkgxml/CiscoIOSRouter/CiscoIOSRouter.pkg

  • Make changes to the file under custompackage. 
  • As root, restart the voyence service to recompile the drivers with your changes (not always necessary, but required more often than not).
    

    /etc/init.d/voyence restart
    

     

More details on custompackage changes can be found in:

$VOYENCE_HOME/package/customizationREADME.txt

Here the $VOYENCE_HOME refers to the installation directory of NCM.
By default this is:

/opt/voyence or C:\Program Files\VoyenceControl.

Additional Information

Please note that: While NCM offers custompackages for devices as an option, it is considered custom (and will not be supported). 
It is recommended that you request devices be officially certified via the TASC Process explained under : Details about submitting and tracking a TASC certification request