Solved: BAT update users

wgroenewald · ‎07-23-2009

Good morning everyone

I'll be updating users for the first time on Call manager 4.1.

I'm a bit nervous about it since I haven't done it before. And making a mess of it simply isn't an option.

I have about 80 users I want to add. At this point I only want to add them on the directory, not associate any devices to them.

All I basically want to do then is put up 80 new users, with name, surname, user id, password, pin, number and department.

What is the safest and easiest way to do this. My biggest fear is deleting the current users, or doing anything that will cause any interuptions to our telephone system. Is it best to do this kind of thing after hours?

Kind regards,

Warren

Rob Huffman · ‎07-24-2009

Hi Warren,

Good stuff! You are most welcome! What you are asking makes perfect sense, and is very close to what the TAPS Tool can do;

TAPS is a tool used with CCM in conjunction with the IPCC/CRA server to add phones to CCM systems. Here is the overview clip from Cisco;

"Use the Tool for Auto-Registered Phones Support (TAPS) in conjunction with BAT to provide two features:

â€¢Update MAC addresses and download predefined configuration for new phones.

â€¢Reload configuration for replacement phones.

When new phones are added to Cisco CallManager, TAPS works in conjunction with BAT to update phones that were added to BAT using dummy MAC addresses. After BAT has been use to bulk add the phones with dummy MAC addresses to Cisco CallManager Administration, you can plug the phones into the network. You or the phone's user can dial a TAPS directory number that causes the phone to download its configuration. At the same time, the phone gets updated in Cisco CallManager Administration with the correct MAC address. You must make sure that Auto-registration is enabled in Cisco CallManager Administration (System > Cisco CallManager) for TAPS to function.

For example, you have 100 new hires starting on Monday. You must add these users and their new phones to Cisco CallManager Administration. You can use BAT to create a phone template for these 100 users and a CSV file for phones and users. By using the dummy MAC address option in the CSV file, you do not need to input the individual MAC addresses for the 100 new phones. Now, as long as auto-registration is enabled, the phones can be plugged directly into the network and configured by you or the new hire by simply dialing the TAPS directory number and following the voice-prompt instructions.

When replacing an existing phone (due to damage, for example), use Configure TAPS, so the user can receive a new phone, plug it into the network, and dial the TAPS directory number to download the configuration that was used by the previous phone. You must ensure that auto-registration is enabled for Configure TAPS to work. The process requires no configuration changes by the user or in Cisco CallManager Administration.

For example, John's Cisco IP Phone 7940 gets short-circuited during a lightning storm. He receives a new Cisco IP Phone 7940 and plugs it into the network. John can dial the TAPS directory number, and the new phone will download the configuration that was previously used for the damaged phone. No need exists to change directory numbers or to update device information in Cisco CallManager Administration - TAPS does it automatically.

The TAPS application, which is installed on a Cisco CRA server, also requires components to be installed on the server that is running the Cisco CallManager publisher database. Cisco recommends that you stop the TAPS service when you are not using TAPS to add phones to Cisco CallManager database.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****Note: TAPS requires the Cisco IP Interactive Voice Response (IP IVR) application that runs on the Cisco Customer Response Application (Cisco CRA) server."

From this excellent doc;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/bat/4_4_3/bat_taps.html

Hope this helps!

Rob

View solution in original post

Rob Huffman · ‎07-24-2009

Hi Warren,

BAT is a very nice method for adding large numbers of users (especially if you have the information in some format like excel or word already) so you can Copy/Paste. It is also very benign for a process like Adding users, this can be done during office hours without causing any issues. The best thing about BAT is that you can do some practice runs first to get used to the process and file requirements b4 going live. Try a few small trial runs with just yourself as the User that you are adding just to work out the kinks :) Have a look;

BAT - Adding Users

Adding Users

You can use BAT to add users to the Cisco CallManager database/Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Directory in batches, rather than individually.

BAT can also associate CTI ports to existing users. This ability proves useful if you are adding users who will have applications that require a CTI port, such as Cisco IP SoftPhone. See Adding Phones or CTI Ports, for more information.

To add users to the Cisco CallManager database/LDAP Directory in bulk, you must perform these steps:

1. Create a comma separated values (CSV) file to define individual values for each user or CTI port/user combination you want to add. We recommend you create the CSV file using the Excel file, BAT.xlt.

2. Use BAT to insert the CSV file to add the users to the Cisco CallManager database.

Creating the CSV File for Users

To add users to Cisco CallManager, you must create a CSV file. You can create a CVS file two ways. You can use the Microsoft Excel template called BAT.xlt or create the CSV using the sample text file. Each CSV file type, such as phones, phones and users combined, and so on, provides a sample text file. However, Cisco recommends that you use the BAT.xlt template because the data is validated automatically when you export to CSV format.

The BAT.xlt file provides data file templates with macros, support for multiple phone lines, and error checking, and exports the values into CSV files for phones, ***users, CTI ports, phone/user combinations, CTI port/user combinations, Cisco VG200 gateways, and FXS ports on Cisco Catalyst 6000 analog interface modules.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/bat/5_1_3/t04usrov.html

Hope this helps!

Rob

wgroenewald · ‎07-24-2009

Fantastic!

Thanks Rob. Tried it and it works.

Okay, next question... Is it possible to upload many users with a dummy MAC address. Then I plug in an IP phone (probably going to be the 7911 and 7941), dial the new extension number and the phone automatically registers as the users phone, updating it on the call manager.

Am I making any sense?

Rob Huffman · ‎07-24-2009

Hi Warren,

Good stuff! You are most welcome! What you are asking makes perfect sense, and is very close to what the TAPS Tool can do;

TAPS is a tool used with CCM in conjunction with the IPCC/CRA server to add phones to CCM systems. Here is the overview clip from Cisco;

"Use the Tool for Auto-Registered Phones Support (TAPS) in conjunction with BAT to provide two features:

â€¢Update MAC addresses and download predefined configuration for new phones.

â€¢Reload configuration for replacement phones.

When new phones are added to Cisco CallManager, TAPS works in conjunction with BAT to update phones that were added to BAT using dummy MAC addresses. After BAT has been use to bulk add the phones with dummy MAC addresses to Cisco CallManager Administration, you can plug the phones into the network. You or the phone's user can dial a TAPS directory number that causes the phone to download its configuration. At the same time, the phone gets updated in Cisco CallManager Administration with the correct MAC address. You must make sure that Auto-registration is enabled in Cisco CallManager Administration (System > Cisco CallManager) for TAPS to function.

For example, you have 100 new hires starting on Monday. You must add these users and their new phones to Cisco CallManager Administration. You can use BAT to create a phone template for these 100 users and a CSV file for phones and users. By using the dummy MAC address option in the CSV file, you do not need to input the individual MAC addresses for the 100 new phones. Now, as long as auto-registration is enabled, the phones can be plugged directly into the network and configured by you or the new hire by simply dialing the TAPS directory number and following the voice-prompt instructions.

When replacing an existing phone (due to damage, for example), use Configure TAPS, so the user can receive a new phone, plug it into the network, and dial the TAPS directory number to download the configuration that was used by the previous phone. You must ensure that auto-registration is enabled for Configure TAPS to work. The process requires no configuration changes by the user or in Cisco CallManager Administration.

For example, John's Cisco IP Phone 7940 gets short-circuited during a lightning storm. He receives a new Cisco IP Phone 7940 and plugs it into the network. John can dial the TAPS directory number, and the new phone will download the configuration that was previously used for the damaged phone. No need exists to change directory numbers or to update device information in Cisco CallManager Administration - TAPS does it automatically.

The TAPS application, which is installed on a Cisco CRA server, also requires components to be installed on the server that is running the Cisco CallManager publisher database. Cisco recommends that you stop the TAPS service when you are not using TAPS to add phones to Cisco CallManager database.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****Note: TAPS requires the Cisco IP Interactive Voice Response (IP IVR) application that runs on the Cisco Customer Response Application (Cisco CRA) server."

From this excellent doc;

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/cucm/bat/4_4_3/bat_taps.html

Hope this helps!

Rob