Record each change made to the systems you look after: why it was made, who asked, who did it, what it touched and how to undo it.

Overview

Change management lists changes newest first, such as a firewall rule, a user added to a group, a share's permissions or a switch replaced. Each change has a status:

• Planned: not done yet, with an optional Planned for date.
• Done: carried out, with Done at and Done by.
• Rolled back: done, then undone.
• Canceled: never carried out. It stays in the log.

Changes are never deleted. Edits made inside TekStacks are already in the activity log; change management is for changes in the systems you document.

Equipment, employee, location, subnet, circuit, service, file and documentation pages show a Changes list of the changes that touched them.

With clients turned on, each client has its own changes.

Requirements

• Role: See changes to read them (every built in role by default). Record and edit changes to add them and move them along (Admin, Manager and Technician by default). Approve planned changes to approve (Admin and Manager by default).

Steps

Record a change

1. In the sidebar, open Documentation, then Change management.
2. Click Record a change.
3. Fill in the top section:
   • Title: what was changed, such as "Allowed RDP from the Denver office to the file server".
   • Why: the reason. Required.
   • Request ticket: optionally, the address of the ticket where the change was first asked for.
   • Status: Planned, Done, Rolled back or Canceled. A new change starts as Done, now, by you.
   • Planned for and Done at: when it is planned and when it was done.
   • Asked by: an employee or user, or type it under Or in words, such as "The CFO, by phone".
   • Done by: the user who made the change.
4. Under What it touched, click Add something it touched for each thing affected:
   • Under Kind, pick something in TekStacks (Equipment, Employee, Location, Documentation page, File or snippet, Circuit, Service, Subnet), then pick it under Which.
   • Or pick something outside TekStacks (User account, Group, Permission or ACL, File share, Firewall rule, DNS record, Something else) and type its Name, such as a group or share.
5. Under Files, click Attach a file to link a file from Files, and mark it Before, After or Other, such as a config backup taken before a firmware update.
6. Under Details, describe What was done in Markdown, and How to undo it.
7. Click Save.

Move a change along

Open the change and use the buttons at the top:

• Mark done: records it as done now, by you, unless a time and person were already set.
• Roll back: records that a done change was undone. Undo it in the systems it touched first.
• Cancel: marks a planned change as Canceled.
• Edit: change any of the details.

Require approval before changes are done

1. Under Administration, open Settings, then the Change management tab.
2. Turn on Changes need approval and click Save.

From then on a planned change must be approved before it can be marked done. Someone with Approve planned changes opens the change, clicks Approve and confirms. Their name and the time are kept with the change under Approved.

Notes

Note: Files appears only when you can see files.

Note: With clients turned on and All clients chosen in the switcher, Record a change is hidden. Pick a client first.

Note: Turning on approval is Admin only, since Settings needs Company settings, custom domain and storage.

Troubleshooting

"This company approves changes before they are done. Ask someone who can approve changes to approve it first."Changes need approval is on. Save the change as Planned, have an approver click Approve, then mark it done.

"Not yet" when clicking Mark done. The same approval rule: the change has not been approved.

"Name what it touched, such as the group or share." You picked a kind outside TekStacks and left Name empty.

"Pick what it touched." You picked a kind in TekStacks and left Which empty.

FAQ

Can I filter the list? Yes. Filter by Status, or by Touched to see changes that touched a kind of thing, such as every firewall rule.

Can I delete a change? No. Cancel it instead; it stays in the log as Canceled.