Dynamic User Group Configuration Object

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Core Methods
3. Dynamic User Group Model Attributes
4. Exceptions
5. Basic Configuration
6. Usage Examples
   • Creating Dynamic User Groups
   • Retrieving Dynamic User Groups
   • Updating Dynamic User Groups
   • Listing Dynamic User Groups
   • Filtering Responses
   • Controlling Pagination with max_limit
   • Deleting Dynamic User Groups
7. Managing Configuration Changes
   • Performing Commits
   • Monitoring Jobs
8. Error Handling
9. Best Practices
10. Related Models

Overview

The DynamicUserGroup class provides functionality to manage dynamic user group objects in Palo Alto Networks' Strata Cloud Manager. This class inherits from BaseObject and provides methods for creating, retrieving, updating, and deleting dynamic user group objects that can be used for user-based policies and filtering.

Core Methods

Method	Description	Parameters	Return Type
create()	Creates a new dynamic user group object	data: Dict[str, Any]	DynamicUserGroupResponseModel
get()	Retrieves a dynamic user group by ID	object_id: str	DynamicUserGroupResponseModel
update()	Updates an existing dynamic user group	dynamic_user_group: DynamicUserGroupUpdateModel	DynamicUserGroupResponseModel
delete()	Deletes a dynamic user group	object_id: str	None
list()	Lists dynamic user groups with filtering	folder: str, **filters	List[DynamicUserGroupResponseModel]
fetch()	Gets dynamic user group by name and container	name: str, folder: str	DynamicUserGroupResponseModel

Dynamic User Group Model Attributes

Attribute	Type	Required	Description
name	str	Yes	Name of dynamic user group object
id	UUID	Yes*	Unique identifier (*response only)
filter	str	Yes	Filter expression for matching users
description	str	No	Object description
tag	List[str]	No	List of tags
folder	str	Yes**	Folder location (**one container required)
snippet	str	Yes**	Snippet location (**one container required)
device	str	Yes**	Device location (**one container required)

Exceptions

Exception	HTTP Code	Description
InvalidObjectError	400	Invalid dynamic user group data or format
MissingQueryParameterError	400	Missing required parameters
NameNotUniqueError	409	Dynamic user group name already exists
ObjectNotPresentError	404	Dynamic user group not found
ReferenceNotZeroError	409	Dynamic user group still referenced
AuthenticationError	401	Authentication failed
ServerError	500	Internal server error

Basic Configuration

from scm.client import ScmClient

# Initialize client using the unified client approach
client = ScmClient(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id"
)

# Access the dynamic_user_group module directly through the client
# client.dynamic_user_group is automatically initialized for you

You can also use the traditional approach if preferred:

from scm.client import Scm
from scm.config.objects import DynamicUserGroup

# Initialize client
client = Scm(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id"
)

# Initialize DynamicUserGroup object
dynamic_user_groups = DynamicUserGroup(client)

Usage Examples

Creating Dynamic User Groups

# Prepare dynamic user group configuration
dug_config = {
   "name": "high_risk_users",
   "filter": "tag.criticality.high",
   "description": "Users with high risk classification",
   "folder": "Security",
   "tag": ["RiskManagement", "Automation"]
}

# Create the dynamic user group object
dug = client.dynamic_user_group.create(dug_config)
print(f"Created dynamic user group: {dug.name} with ID: {dug.id}")

# Create another dynamic user group with different filter
another_dug_config = {
   "name": "external_contractors",
   "filter": "tag.user_type.contractor",
   "folder": "Security",
   "description": "All external contractor accounts"
}

# Create the dynamic user group object
another_dug = client.dynamic_user_group.create(another_dug_config)

Retrieving Dynamic User Groups

# Fetch by name and folder
dug = client.dynamic_user_group.fetch(name="high_risk_users", folder="Security")
print(f"Found dynamic user group: {dug.name}")

# Get by ID
dug_by_id = client.dynamic_user_group.get(dug.id)
print(f"Retrieved dynamic user group: {dug_by_id.name}")

Updating Dynamic User Groups

# Fetch existing dynamic user group
existing_dug = client.dynamic_user_group.fetch(name="high_risk_users", folder="Security")

# Update specific attributes
existing_dug.description = "Users with high risk assessment score"
existing_dug.filter = "tag.criticality.high or tag.risk_score.gt.80"
existing_dug.tag = ["RiskManagement", "Automation", "HighPriority"]

# Perform update
updated_dug = client.dynamic_user_group.update(existing_dug)

Listing Dynamic User Groups

# List dynamic user groups in the Security folder
all_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(folder='Security')

# Process results
for dug in all_dugs:
   print(f"Name: {dug.name}, Filter: {dug.filter}")

# Pass filters directly into the list method
filtered_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(
     folder='Security',
     tags=['Automation']
)

# Process results
for dug in filtered_dugs:
   print(f"Name: {dug.name}, Filter: {dug.filter}")

# Define filter parameters as a dictionary
list_params = {
   "folder": "Security",
   "filters": ["tag.criticality"]
}

# List dynamic user groups with filters as kwargs
filtered_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(**list_params)

# Process results
for dug in filtered_dugs:
   print(f"Name: {dug.name}, Filter: {dug.filter}")

Filtering Responses

The list() method supports additional parameters to refine your query results even further. Alongside basic filters (like tags and filters), you can leverage the exact_match, exclude_folders, exclude_snippets, and exclude_devices parameters to control which objects are included or excluded after the initial API response is fetched.

Parameters:

• exact_match (bool): When True, only objects defined exactly in the specified container (folder, snippet, or device) are returned. Inherited or propagated objects are filtered out.
• exclude_folders (List[str]): Provide a list of folder names that you do not want included in the results.
• exclude_snippets (List[str]): Provide a list of snippet values to exclude from the results.
• exclude_devices (List[str]): Provide a list of device values to exclude from the results.

Examples:

# Only return dynamic user groups defined exactly in 'Security'
exact_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(
   folder='Security',
   exact_match=True
)

for dug in exact_dugs:
   print(f"Exact match: {dug.name} in {dug.folder}")

# Exclude all dynamic user groups from the 'All' folder
no_all_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(
   folder='Security',
   exclude_folders=['All']
)

for dug in no_all_dugs:
   assert dug.folder != 'All'
   print(f"Filtered out 'All': {dug.name}")

# Exclude dynamic user groups that come from 'default' snippet
no_default_snippet = client.dynamic_user_group.list(
   folder='Security',
   exclude_snippets=['default']
)

for dug in no_default_snippet:
   assert dug.snippet != 'default'
   print(f"Filtered out 'default' snippet: {dug.name}")

# Combine exact_match with multiple exclusions
combined_filters = client.dynamic_user_group.list(
   folder='Security',
   exact_match=True,
   exclude_folders=['All'],
   exclude_snippets=['default'],
   exclude_devices=['DeviceA']
)

for dug in combined_filters:
   print(f"Combined filters result: {dug.name} in {dug.folder}")

Controlling Pagination with max_limit

The SDK supports pagination through the max_limit parameter, which defines how many objects are retrieved per API call. By default, max_limit is set to 2500. The API itself imposes a maximum allowed value of 5000. If you set max_limit higher than 5000, it will be capped to the API's maximum. The list() method will continue to iterate through all objects until all results have been retrieved. Adjusting max_limit can help manage retrieval performance and memory usage when working with large datasets.

Example:

# Initialize the ScmClient with a custom max_limit for dynamic user groups
# This will retrieve up to 4000 objects per API call, up to the API limit of 5000.
client = ScmClient(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id",
    dynamic_user_group_max_limit=4000
)

# Now when we call list(), it will use the specified max_limit for each request
# while auto-paginating through all available objects.
all_dugs = client.dynamic_user_group.list(folder='Security')

# 'all_dugs' contains all objects from 'Security', fetched in chunks of up to 4000 at a time.

Deleting Dynamic User Groups

# Delete by ID
dug_id = "123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426655440000"
client.dynamic_user_group.delete(dug_id)

Managing Configuration Changes

Performing Commits

# Prepare commit parameters
commit_params = {
   "folders": ["Security"],
   "description": "Added new dynamic user groups",
   "sync": True,
   "timeout": 300  # 5 minute timeout
}

# Commit the changes directly on the client
# Note: All commit operations should be performed on the client directly
result = client.commit(**commit_params)

print(f"Commit job ID: {result.job_id}")

Monitoring Jobs

# Get status of specific job directly on the client
job_status = client.get_job_status(result.job_id)
print(f"Job status: {job_status.data[0].status_str}")

# List recent jobs directly on the client
recent_jobs = client.list_jobs(limit=10)
for job in recent_jobs.data:
     print(f"Job {job.id}: {job.type_str} - {job.status_str}")

Error Handling

from scm.client import ScmClient
from scm.exceptions import (
   InvalidObjectError,
   MissingQueryParameterError,
   NameNotUniqueError,
   ObjectNotPresentError
)

# Initialize client
client = ScmClient(
    client_id="your_client_id",
    client_secret="your_client_secret",
    tsg_id="your_tsg_id"
)

try:
   # Create dynamic user group configuration
   dug_config = {
      "name": "test_group",
      "filter": "tag.department.it",
      "folder": "Security",
      "description": "IT department users",
      "tag": ["Test"]
   }

   # Create the dynamic user group using the unified client
   new_dug = client.dynamic_user_group.create(dug_config)

   # Commit changes directly on the client
   result = client.commit(
      folders=["Security"],
      description="Added test dynamic user group",
      sync=True
   )

   # Check job status on the client
   status = client.get_job_status(result.job_id)

except InvalidObjectError as e:
   print(f"Invalid dynamic user group data: {e.message}")
except NameNotUniqueError as e:
   print(f"Dynamic user group name already exists: {e.message}")
except ObjectNotPresentError as e:
   print(f"Dynamic user group not found: {e.message}")
except MissingQueryParameterError as e:
   print(f"Missing parameter: {e.message}")

Best Practices

1. Client Usage

   • Use the unified ScmClient approach for simpler code
   • Access dynamic user group operations via client.dynamic_user_group property
   • Perform commit operations directly on the client
   • Monitor jobs directly on the client
   • Set appropriate max_limit parameters for large datasets using dynamic_user_group_max_limit

2. Container Management

   • Always specify exactly one container (folder, snippet, or device)
   • Use consistent container names across operations
   • Validate container existence before operations

3. Error Handling

   • Implement comprehensive error handling for all operations
   • Check job status after commits
   • Handle specific exceptions before generic ones
   • Log error details for troubleshooting

4. Filter Expressions

   • Ensure filter expressions follow the required syntax
   • Test filter expressions before implementing in production
   • Document filter expressions for future maintenance
   • Use consistent naming conventions for tags referenced in filters

5. Performance

   • Reuse client instances
   • Use appropriate pagination for list operations
   • Implement proper retry mechanisms
   • Cache frequently accessed objects

6. Security

   • Follow the least privilege principle
   • Validate input data
   • Use secure connection settings
   • Implement proper authentication handling

Full Script Examples

Refer to the dynamic_user_group.py example.

Related Models

• DynamicUserGroupCreateModel
• DynamicUserGroupUpdateModel
• DynamicUserGroupResponseModel