Playbook Versions

Overview

Versioning in Playbooks allows ThreatConnect^® users to maintain and manage versions of their Playbooks and Components. Every time a Playbook or Component is activated, a new minor version is autosaved. You can create and comment on major versions, as well as split off older versions to create new Playbooks and Components. This article uses Playbooks for its examples, but the same principles apply to Components.

Before You Start

Version Numbering

In the Playbooks version-numbering scheme, the major-version number is followed by a decimal point and then the minor-version number. For example, version 5.1 indicates major version 5 and minor version 1. Major versions are created manually by users. Minor versions are automatically created every time a Playbook is activated (i.e., when you hover over the Mode dropdown in the upper-right corner of the Playbook Designer and select Active).

Viewing a Playbook’s Version History

1. On the top navigation bar, click Playbooks to display the Playbooks screen.
2. Select an existing Playbook to open it in the Playbook Designer.
3. Click Versions on the side navigation bar of the Playbook Designer. The Versions pane will be displayed (Figure 1).

   

    

   • + Create New Version: Click this button to create a new major version of the Playbook. See the “Creating a New Major Version” section for further instruction.
   • Major Versions Only: Toggle this slider on to view only the major versions in the version history
   • Name: This column displays the name of the Playbook for the given version. Except for the version that is currently displayed in the Playbook Designer, the name is a link that, when clicked, will open that version of the Playbook as a new tab in the Playbook Designer. Below the name is an informational comment. For major versions (i.e., version x.0), the comment is user generated. (See the “Creating a New Major Version” section for more information on entering a comment for a major version.) For minor versions, the comment is automatically generated and provides the date and time of when that version was created.
   • Version: This column displays the version number of the Playbook. The shaded circle (for version 2.1 in Figure 1) indicates the version that is currently being viewed in the Playbook Designer. The checkmark indicates the most recently active version of the Playbook:
     • A grey circled checkmark () indicates that the Playbook is not currently active.
     • A green checkmark () indicates that the Playbook is currently active.
   • Created: This column displays the date that the Playbook was created.

Only 25 versions of a Playbook may exist at a given time. Once that limit has been reached, the Versions pane will display a warning message at the upper-left corner stating that creating a new version (i.e., creating a major version) or activating the current version (i.e., creating a minor version) will delete the oldest version of the Playbook (Figure 2).

Creating a New Version

Creating a New Major Version

Click the + Create New Version button at the upper-left corner of the Versions pane (Figure 1). The Create New Version window will be displayed (Figure 3).

• Comment: Enter a summary of the new version, which will be displayed under the Playbook’s name for this version in the Versions pane.
• Click the SAVE button. The new major version of the Playbook will be displayed in the Versions pane.

Importing a New Major Version

You can also create a new major version of a Playbook by importing a .pbx or .pbxz file on either the Playbook Designer or Playbooks screen. This article covers the steps for importing a new version on the Playbook Designer.

1. Click the vertical ellipsis at the upper-right corner of the Playbook Designer and select Import New Version.
2. Locate and select a .pbx or .pbxz file. If importing a .pbx file, the new version of the Playbook will be opened in the Playbook Designer, and a new major version number will be assigned to the existing Playbook. If importing a .pbxz file, the Import Playbook Version drawer will be displayed (Figure 4).

   

    

   • A preview image of the Playbook will be displayed in the Playbook Preview section. Click the image to expand it if desired.
   • NEW FILE: Click this button to locate and select a different .pbx or .pbxz file to upload, if desired.
   • Click the IMPORT button to import the file as a new version of the Playbook. The Playbook will open in the Playbook Designer, and a new major version number will be assigned to the existing Playbook.

Creating a New Minor Version

To create a new minor version of a Playbook, simply activate it, or, if it is already active, de-activate it, make all desired changes, and then re-activate it.

Editing an Older Version of a Playbook

The simplest way to edit an older version of a Playbook is to use the Edit as Draft feature.

1. Select an older version of the Playbook in the Versions pane (Figure 1). The selected version will open in a new tab on the Playbook Designer (Figure 5).

   

    

2. Click the Edit as Draft button in the upper-right corner of the Playbook Designer. The Create New Version window will be displayed (Figure 3).
3. Enter a comment about the new version, and then click the SAVE button. A new major version of the Playbook will be created that is identical to the older version that was selected.

In addition to using the Edit as Draft feature, you can select an older version of a Playbook in the Versions pane to open it in a new tab in the Playbook Designer and then activate it. The Playbook will become the latest minor version in the major-version series for the older version. For example, if a Playbook has versions 2.0–2.5 and you activate version 2.2, then minor version 2.6 will be created, even if there are major-version series that come after the 2.x series (i.e., versions 3.0 and later).

ThreatConnect^® is a registered trademark of ThreatConnect, Inc.

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