BlueCoat/Packeteer PolicyCenter, PacketShapers and attrib iqosClassID errors

BlueCoat PacketShapers can be configured individually, or from a central management server called PolicyCenter. If you have more than a few PacketShapers it can be easier to use PolicyCenter.

PacketShapers have a hierarchical configuration – the class tree. Each class has a 31 bit unique ID – the iqosClassID attribute. If you’re using PolicyCenter you can create hierarchical configurations that your PacketShapers can inherit. So, you might have somethink like:

MPLS-Sites/SanFran/sfps01

where sfps01 is a PacketShaper, and MPLS-Sites and SanFran are configurations. A setting in MPLS-Sites will be inherited by SanFran and  then by sfps01. A setting in SanFran will be inherited by sfps01. Of course, a child configuration can override a parent configuration.

When you create a class in MPLS-Sites it automatically gets given a Class ID. The problem is that PolicyCenter does nothing to make sure that the Class ID created is unique. So, you may create a new class in MPLS-Sites and end up with an error like

Configuration error in /MPLS-Sites/SanFran/ZAJNBA/204-10000111, object /Outbound/NewYork, attrib iqosClassID = “1208514799″, 1208514799 is already in use by class “/Outbound/VoIP”.

It’s just not good enough!