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Application Delivery Management
14.1 - Current Release 13.1 13.0
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StyleBook categories

January 12, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

There are two StyleBook categories in Citrix Application Delivery Management (ADM). They are the default StyleBooks and the custom StyleBooks. Whether it is a default or custom, a StyleBook is either a public or a private StyleBook. In Citrix ADM, you can view all the StyleBooks that are present in the system, regardless of their type or visibility status. You can also view a graphical display of how StyleBooks are connected with each other.

This document explains the different types of StyleBooks. Also, it explains the following actions that you can perform on the StyleBooks from Citrix ADM:

  • Download a custom StyleBook and make modifications, or create a StyleBook based on an existing one.
  • Hide ADM default StyleBooks.
  • Delete a custom StyleBook from Citrix ADM.
  • Add tags to the StyleBooks.

Default and custom StyleBooks

  • Default StyleBooks are the StyleBooks shipped with Citrix ADM and they allow you to create configurations that you can deploy on your Citrix ADC instances. You cannot delete default StyleBooks, but you can hide them from the ADM GUI.
  • Custom StyleBooks are your own StyleBooks that you imported in to Citrix ADM.

Both default and custom StyleBooks can be either public or private.

Public and private StyleBooks

StyleBooks from which you can create configuration packs can be categorized as public StyleBooks. That is, they are all available for your direct usage to create configurations from the Citrix ADM GUI and APIs.

But, some StyleBooks are used as building blocks for other StyleBooks. Such StyleBooks are marked as private. The private StyleBooks cannot be directly used to create configuration packs from the Citrix ADM GUI. But, you can still display and view these StyleBooks on Citrix ADM. To mark any of your custom StyleBooks as private, set the private attribute in the StyleBook to true. You can still use private StyleBooks to create configuration packs using the Citrix ADM APIs.

Example of a StyleBook marked as private 

name: basic-lb-config
namespace: com.example.stylebooks
version: "0.1"
display-name: Load Balancing Configuration
description: |
    This StyleBook defines a simple load balancing configuration and is a building block to build other load balancing configurations.
schema-version: "1.0"
private: true
<!--NeedCopy-->

View StyleBooks

The number of StyleBooks - both default and private are increasing in Citrix ADM. You might want to search for the particular StyleBook that you want to access. You might also want to view both types of StyleBooks separately.

In Citrix ADM, when you navigate to Applications > StyleBooks, you can view a list of StyleBooks that are present in the system.

A default public StyleBook has the following icon on its panel:

Default public StyleBooks

Whereas a default private StyleBook has an icon that declares it as a private StyleBook:

Private icon

While you can view the definition and dependencies of a private StyleBook, you cannot create a configuration packs from a private StyleBook using the GUI. The main purpose of a private StyleBook is to use it as a building block for another StyleBook. Using the building-blocks-StyleBooks encourages the reuse of common configuration patterns.

A custom public StyleBook has a different icon as shown in the following image:

Default public icon

While a custom private StyleBook appears with this icon:

Default private icon

At the top right-side of the page, you can see an option to select the type of StyleBooks to view. There are three options - all, public, or private StyleBooks. Click one of the options.

Filter StyleBooks by public and private

You can also search for a particular StyleBook by clicking the search icon. You can search by name, namespace, and version attributes or a combination of these options. The search operation is not case-sensitive.

Search StyleBooks

Download custom StyleBooks

To download the custom StyleBooks from Citrix ADM, navigate to Applications > StyleBooks > Configurations. In the list of StyleBooks that are displayed on the right-side panel, check the option to download the custom-defined StyleBooks. Click Download. If the StyleBook has dependent custom StyleBooks, you can include the dependent StyleBooks in the downloaded bundle.

Note:

You can download custom StyleBooks that are marked as either public or private.

Download StyleBooks

Note:

You cannot download Citrix ADM default StyleBooks. You can view their definitions and dependencies. To do so, click View Definition and View Dependencies links on the StyleBook panel.

Delete custom StyleBooks

You can also delete a custom StyleBook by clicking the Delete button. A pop-up window prompts you to confirm if you want to remove the StyleBook from Citrix ADM. If the StyleBook uses other custom StyleBooks, you can choose to remove such StyleBooks by selecting the check box.

Delete StyleBooks

Note:

Do not delete a custom StyleBook if it has dependent StyleBooks in Citrix ADM. Otherwise, it would break the existing StyleBooks.

View StyleBook dependencies

An important and powerful feature of StyleBooks is that they can be used as building blocks for other StyleBooks. You can import a StyleBook into another StyleBook. An imported StyleBook is declared as a type and is used by components or parameters of the second StyleBook. You can study the existing default StyleBooks in Citrix ADM to learn how one StyleBook can be built on top of another StyleBook.

Citrix ADM allows you to view a graphical display of how StyleBooks are connected with each other. This representation is especially useful for complex StyleBooks that are built using other StyleBooks as building blocks. By looking at the dependency graph, it is possible to see the relationships and dependencies among multiple StyleBooks.

A StyleBook used by other StyleBooks cannot be removed from the system because it would break the existing StyleBooks. Using the dependency graph display, you can identify which StyleBooks are preventing the removal of a StyleBook.

To view StyleBook dependencies

In Citrix ADM, navigate to Applications > StyleBooks. The StyleBooks page displays all the StyleBooks available for your use in Citrix ADM. Scroll down and find your StyleBook. The StyleBook tile displays links to create a configuration, to view the StyleBook definition, and to view the StyleBook dependencies. Click View Dependencies.

Forward dependencies

The Forward Dependencies tab allows you to view the different default StyleBooks that your StyleBook is using. Follow the arrows to find the StyleBook that a StyleBook is using. When you point your mouse to one of the arrows, the arrow and the StyleBooks that are connected to one another are highlighted. You can also click the StyleBook names to view the definition of that StyleBook.

Forward dependencies

Reverse dependencies

The Reverse Dependencies tab allows you to graphically view the StyleBooks that are using your StyleBook. If you follow the arrows, you can see that all the StyleBooks in the display point towards your StyleBook. Some StyleBooks might be directly using the StyleBook and some StyleBooks might be using the StyleBook through another StyleBook.

Reverse dependencies

Audit ADC configuration against configuration pack

You can compare the changes made by a StyleBook configuration pack to the current ADC configuration. With this comparison, you can do the following:

  • Detect the configuration drift between StyleBook configuration pack and ADC configuration.

  • Identify any modified and deleted objects on the ADC that do not reflect the changes made by the configuration pack.

To compare the configuration pack changes to the ADCs config, do the following.

  1. Navigate to Applications > StyleBooks > Configurations.

  2. Click Configuration Audit.

    The Configuration Audit page displays the objects created and audited.

    Audit ADC configuration against configuration pack

Create a tag for the StyleBook

You can add tags to any StyleBook in Citrix ADM. Tags are key-value pairs that allow you to group StyleBooks using different criteria. You can use these tags while searching or filtering for StyleBooks in Citrix ADM.

To add a tag to the StyleBook:

  1. Navigate to Applications > StyleBooks.

  2. Select Tags on the StyleBook for which you want to add tags.

    Tags for a StyleBook

    You can add tags to all types of StyleBooks.

  3. Specify the required Key and Value information that helps you filter the StyleBook.

    For example, Key=team and Value=bizdata

    Create a tag for a StyleBook

    To add more tags, click +.

  4. Click Create.

To filter StyleBooks using tags, in the search bar, click Tags and select key and value from the list. The StyleBooks that are matching the specified tag are displayed.

How to use tags

The following is an example search for the StyleBooks that have a tag where key=team and value=bizdata:

Example for a tag

You can associate the StyleBook tags to its configuration pack. So, you can search the configuration packs using the StyleBook tags itself.

When you create a configuration pack, use one the following options in the Tag Association section:

  • Associate all present and future StyleBook tags with the configuration – This option associates all the StyleBook tags to a configuration pack. It also makes sure to associate the new tags that you might add to the StyleBooks in future.

  • Select tags – This option displays the tags of the selected StyleBook. You can select the required StyleBook tags and associate with a configuration pack.

Associate StyleBook tags with its configuration pack

StyleBook categories
January 12, 2024
Contributed by: 
C
January 12, 2024
Contributed by: 
C

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