N-Central: Using Custom Properties to Manage Maintenance Automation
One of my favorite new N-Central features in 2019 was the implementation of Organization level Custom Properties, and the ability to make Custom Properties dropdown menus. Using CDPs for automation is not new, but these two new implementations, in my opinion, took it to the next level and effectively made it so you can make a bulletproof method of controlling automation for a customer. Your team can now enable/disable automation without risk of breaking rules or fat fingering breaking filters.
Once implemented, you can easily manage which portions of automation are on/off for a client. This also makes auditing MUCH easier and makes onboarding an absolute breeze.
Step 1: Create your Custom Properties
Start with the basics (Endpoint Security, Patching, Maintenance) and make one property for workstations and one for servers (or however you want to split this up).
Pro-Tip: When creating the custom properties, default everything to "enabled" to start, then once saved change the default to "disabled" but don't propagate that change. That way, it's enabled for all of your existing customers to start with.
Step 2: Create Filters that include the target devices AND the Organization Custom Property set to Enabled
I like to use device classes for this. For workstations, don't forget to include laptops and workstations unless you want to keep them separate.
Step 3: Review the settings for each customer / BuildAudit Filters
Go through your customer list and make sure each of the custom properties is set correctly for each customer.
Build a Filter that looks for these Custom Properties being set to "disable", so you can quickly see who has them on/off
Step 4: Update your Rules
Most people use the "Grant Customers/Sites Acess" rule function as the on/off switch for things like this. Now that the filter is looking for the switch itself, you can enable the rule for all customers and sites, as well as new customers and sites. Then change the filter to your new custom filters.
Done!
It's a pretty quick and easy change, that long term makes life easier for everyone. You no longer have to worry about staff accidentally typing "enable" wrong, or unchecking a box they shouldn't.