Manage requestor notifications

Relevant for: Network operation users

This topic describes how to manage requestor notifications for change requests in the Approve stage, such as traffic change requests with a "Drop" action, rule removal requests, rule modification requests, or re-certification requests.

Note: To determine a change request's stage, view the change request. The stage is indicated by the Change Request Lifecycle Status Bar. For details, see View change requests.

Request handling per type

You may need to notify requestors as follows, depending on the request type:

Request type Description

Traffic change requests with a Drop action

In a traffic change request with a "Drop" action, a rule removal request, or a rule modification request, you can search for change requests whose requested traffic will consequently be blocked. You must then notify the requestors of these change requests that the traffic is slated to be blocked. The requestors have until the change request's due date to respond.

For rule removal requests, you also have the option to extend the due date. If desired, you can view responses received from requestors or re-notify the requestors at any time.

Once you have received the requestors' responses, the change request advances to the Approve stage.

Rule removal requests

Rule modification requests
Re-certification requests

In a re-certification request, you can search for change requests whose traffic intersects that of the Allow traffic that was added by the expired change request.

You must then notify the requestors of these change requests that the Allow traffic is slated for removal.

The requestors have until the recertification request's due date to respond.

If desired, you can extend the due date, view responses received from requestors, or re-notify the requestors at any time.

Once you have received the requestors' responses, you must decide whether to certify the Allow traffic or plan its removal.

Back to top

Find related change requests

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Find Related Change Requests.

    The Related Change Requests appear.

    For traffic change requests with a "Drop" action, the page displays the details of the "Allow" traffic that is to be blocked, followed by a list of change requests related to the rule.

    For rule removal requests, the page displays the rule details, information on the rule's usage, and a list of change requests related to the rule.

    For recertification requests, the page displays the details of the Allow traffic that is to be removed, followed by a list of change requests related to the rule.

  3. To view an individual change request, click on the change request's name.
  4. In the related change requests page, click Next.

The change request is displayed with the related change requests results.

Back to top

Notify requestors of related change requests

The following procedures describe how to notify requestors of related change requests:

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Notify Rule Requestors.

    The Notify Requestors page appears displaying all requestors of related change requests.

  3. Specify which requestors to notify, by doing any of the following:

    • Select the check box next to their name to notify an individual requestor in the list.
    • Click Check All to notify all requestors in the list.
    • Click Clear All to notify none of the requestors in the list.

    • To notify additional users who are not listed, do the following:

      1. Click Select additional users to notify.

        The All Users dialog box opens with a list of all users in the FireFlow system.

      2. (Optional) To filter the table, in the Filter field, type the string according to which the table should be filtered.

        The table is filtered, and only users whose name, username, or email address contains the specified string are displayed.

      3. Select the check boxes next to the users you want to notify and click OK.

        The selected users appear in the list of users to notify, with an asterisk next to their name.

  4. To view an individual change request, click on the change request's ID number.
  5. In the Related Change Requests page, click Next.

FireFlow sends the selected users an email notifying them that the traffic is slated to be blocked.

For rule removal requests, you can optionally customize this email. For more details, see Manage FireFlow email templates .

The change request is displayed.

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Notify Traffic Requestors.

    The related change requests page appears displaying all requestors of related change requests.

  3. Specify which requestors to notify, by doing any of the following:

    • Select the check box next to their name to notify an individual requestor in the list.
    • Click Check All to notify all requestors in the list.
    • Click Clear All to notify none of the requestors in the list.

    • To notify additional users who are not listed, do the following:

      1. Click Select additional users to consult.

        The All Users dialog box opens with a list of all users in the FireFlow system.

      2. (Optional) To filter the table, in the Filter field, type the string according to which the table should be filtered.

        The table is filtered, and only users whose name, username, or email address contains the specified string are displayed.

      3. Select the check boxes next to the users you want to notify and click OK.

      The selected users appear in the list of users to notify, with an asterisk next to their name.

  4. To view an individual change request, click on the change request's ID number.
  5. In the Related Change Requests page, click Next.

FireFlow sends the selected users an email notifying them that the Allow traffic added by the expired change request is slated for removal.

The recertification request is displayed.

Back to top

Notify requestors for related change requests again

The following procedures describe how to re-notify requestors about changes in related change requests:

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Re-Notify Requestors.

    The related change requests page appears displaying all requestors of related change requests.

  3. Specify which requestors to notify, by doing any of the following:

    • To notify an individual requestor in the list, select the check box next to their name.
    • Click Check All to notify all requestors in the list.
    • Click Clear All to notify none of the requestors in the list.

    • To notify additional users who are not listed, do the following:

      1. Click Select additional users to notify.

        The All Users dialog box opens with a list of all users in the FireFlow system.

      2. (Optional) To filter the table, in the Filter field, type the string according to which the table should be filtered.

        The table is filtered, and only users whose name, username, or email address contains the specified string are displayed.

      3. Select the check boxes next to the users you want to notify.
      4. Click OK.

    The selected users appear in the list of users to notify, with an asterisk next to their name.

  4. To view an individual change request, click on the change request's ID number.
  5. In the Related Change Requests page, click Next.

FireFlow sends the selected users an email notifying them that the traffic is slated to be blocked.

For rule removal requests, you can optionally customize this email. For more details, see Manage FireFlow email templates .

The change request is displayed.

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Notify Traffic Requestors.

    The related change requests page appears displaying all requestors of related change requests.

  3. Specify which requestors to notify, by doing any of the following:

    • Select the check box next to their name to notify an individual requestor in the list.
    • Click Check All to notify all requestors in the list.
    • Click Clear All to notify none of the requestors in the list.

    • To notify additional users who are not listed, do the following:

      1. Click Select additional users to consult.

        The All Users dialog box opens with a list of all users in the FireFlow system.

      2. (Optional) To filter the table, in the Filter field, type the string according to which the table should be filtered.

        The table is filtered, and only users whose name, username, or email address contains the specified string are displayed.

      3. Select the check boxes next to the users you want to notify.
      4. Click OK.

    The selected users appear in the list of users to notify, with an asterisk next to their name.

  4. To view an individual change request, click on the change request's ID number.
  5. In the Related Change Requests page, click Next.

FireFlow sends the selected users an email notifying them that the Allow traffic added by the expired change request is slated for removal.

The recertification request is displayed.

Back to top

Extend a rule removal due date

A rule removal request's due date represents the date by which requestors must respond to the notification they received regarding rule removal/disablement. Here is a description of how to extend this due date.

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Extend.

    The Extend page appears.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Click , and select the desired date in the calendar that appears. To navigate to different months in the calendar, click Prev and Next.
    • Type the desired date in the field provided. You can use most relative and absolute formats, for example yyyy-mm-dd, mm/dd/yyyy, Mon dd yyyy, “next week”, and “now + 3 days”.
  4. Click OK.

The change request is displayed.

Back to top

Extend a re-certification request due date

A recertification request's due date represents the date by which requestors must respond to the notification they received regarding traffic removal. Here is a description of how to extend this due date.

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click , and then click Extend.

    Note: The list of options available in the drop-down list may be changed by an administrator, by editing a workflow's available actions. For more details, see Manage workflow actions.

    The Extend page is displayed.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • Click , and select the desired date in the calendar that appears. To navigate to different months in the calendar, click Prev and Next.
    • Type the desired date in the field provided. You can use most relative and absolute formats, for example yyyy-mm-dd, mm/dd/yyyy, Mon dd yyyy, “next week”, and “now + 3 days”.
  4. Click OK.

The change request is displayed.

Back to top

View responses from requestors

Here is a description of how to view email responses from requestors.

Do the following:

  1. View the change request. For details, see View change requests.

  2. At the top of the page, click Correspondence.

    The View Correspondence page appears displaying a list of requestors who have declined to approve the change, a list of requestors who have confirmed that the change is acceptable, a list of requestors who have responded by e-mail, and a list of requestors who have not yet replied.

  3. To view a response, click next to the relevant requestor's name.

    The response is displayed.

  4. Click Next.

The change request is displayed.

Back to top