Define Automation Process

Overview

This article walks you through a process definition example that references the more frequently used definition tools. The example automates resource patching:

1. Append on a periodic timer event.
2. On timer expiration, start a resource patch script.
3. If the script completes successfully, validate the patch. Otherwise, generate an alert.
4. On successful patch validation, send an email notification to the DevOps team.

This visualization demonstrates a process definition for the example:

To create a process definition for OS patching that uses resources from an existing patch configuration, see Define a Patch Management Process.

In following this tutorial, refer to the Process Definition Reference for detailed information about each component type and the properties available for customization.

The following steps describe how to create the visualization.

Create a New Process for Automation

To create a new automation process definition, follow the below steps:

• Step 1: Define the Process Definition
• Step 2: Define the Start Event
• Step 3: Define the Task and Task Properties
• Step 4: Define the Gateways
• Step 5: Define the Conditional Tasks
• Step 6: Define the Boundary Event
• Step 7: Define the Completion Task and End Events

Step 1: Define the Process Definition

Make sure the Remediation and Automation package is enabled for the client.

1. Login to OpsRamp portal.
2. Navigate to Automation > Process Automation. The Process Definitions home page appers.
3. To add a new process definition, click + ADD.

   

4. A new page displays with a canvas and tools for creating a new process visualization.

   

5. From the Category, select Automation.
6. Enter a required Name for the process.
7. Enable or disable the process definition with the Enable Process Definition toggle.
8. If you want to get the notifications, enable the Notify toggle and refer here to know how to configure it. This is optional.

Continue defining the workflow, handling successful and failed paths, and DevOps notification. The workflow must begin with a StartEvent and end with an EndEvent.

Step 2: Define the Start Events

The first step of any process is to define the start condition. The start of a process can be triggered by a timer event, or an alert event. This example demonstrates a timer event:

1. Click the Create StartEvent symbol from the component tools menu, and place it on the canvas with a click.

2. Click the Change type (wrench) icon and choose Timer Start Event.

3. Click the Timer Start Event symbol to display the start event properties.

4. In the Properties view, enter a start event Name. The ID property is automatically populated.

5. Click the Start Date edit window and choose a calendar date and time-of-day as the starting condition for automated patch process. Click OK to continue through each dialog.

6. Choose an Ends option to specify the end of automated patch processing. Select from:

   • Never ends
   • ends After a number of occurrences
   • ends On a specific date and time

7. From Recurrence Pattern, select the frequency unit.

8. From Repeats Every, enter the event frequency.

   For all recurrence pattern options, set the time in a 24-hour format from the Start Date edit window. The event is triggered at the specified time.

   The following options are available:

   Recurrence Pattern	Repeats Every (Choose Value)	Description
   Minute	1 to 360 minutes	Select the number of minutes to trigger the event after the specified time. For example, set the time as 3 PM and recurrence value as 5. The event is triggered at 3 PM and five minutes after that.
   Hourly	1 to 120 hours	Select the Hourly recurrence to trigger the event after the specified number of hours.
   Daily	1 to 365 days	Set the frequency for the event to trigger after the specified number of days.
   Weekly	Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday	Select one or more weekdays on which you want to trigger the event. For example, select Tuesday and Thursday and the time as 6 PM. The event is triggered every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 PM.
   Monthly	1 to 12 months	Set the frequency on a monthly basis. For example, select 2 as the recurrence value. The event is triggered after two months from the date and time specified in the Start Date edit window.

Step 3: Define the Task and Task Properties

1. Click the Create Task symbol in the component tools menu and place the task on the canvas. You can also click the StartEvent symbol previously placed on the canvas and click the Append Task icon.

   For subsequent components, you have the option of manually selecting and placing the component from the component tool menu or selecting a component on the canvas and choosing the next component in the workflow. This example add components from existing components, which also automatically connects both components.

2. For the task, click the Change type icon and choose Script Task.

3. Click the task symbol on the canvas to display the task properties.

4. Enter the task Name. The name is displayed in the task symbol as you enter it. The task ID is automatically populated.

5. Select an Agent or Agentless script platform.

6. Click the Script Name edit box and select from the list of available scripts.

7. For Resource ID, enter a $ character to display the list of available input sources to the task. Choose the timer start event resource.

   For example, if the timer start event is named Patch Start Timer, choose Patch Start Timer from the list of available input sources. In this example, there is only one available input source.

1. Select Default user or Other user as the user with run script privilege.

Step 4: Define the Gateways

Use a gateway to specify workflow branching. An exclusive gateway provides conditional branching and a parallel gateway provides for concurrent processing paths.

1. Click the on-canvas script task and select the Append Gateway icon. This renders an exclusive gateway component by default.
2. Click the gateway component to edit the properties.
3. Enter a Name property. The ID property is automatically populated.
4. Enable the option Enable Loop Count and select the values from the drop down to configure the repeat count value.

Step 5: Define the Conditional Tasks

Define two tasks, one for each gateway path. The task that executes depends on satisfying the gateway conditions.

For the first task, define the task to handle a successful patch operation:

1. Click the gateway component and select the Append Task icon. This renders a task for post-patch validation.
2. For the task, click the Change type icon and choose Script Task.
3. Click the task symbol on the canvas to display the task properties.
4. Enter the task Name. The task ID is automatically populated.
5. Select Agent or Agentless as the script platform.
6. Click the Script Name edit box and select from the list of available scripts.
7. For Resource ID, enter a $ character to display the list of available input sources to the task. Choose the name of the patching script task previously defined.
8. Select Default user or Other user as the user with run script privilege.

For the second task, define the task to handle a failed patch operation:

1. Click the gateway component, again, and select the Append Task icon. This renders a task to create an alert if the patch operation failed.

2. For the task, click the Change type icon and choose Service Task to create the alert.

3. Click the task symbol on the canvas to display the task properties.

4. Enter the task Name. The task ID is automatically populated.

5. From the Service menu, select a Platform Service for the alert notification.

6. From the Task menu, select Create Alert.

7. Enter the required alert information.

   You can manually enter the information in each field or enter $ to display the list of valid values. For example, the Create Alert option requires a Current State value. Enter $ to display the possible process states. Choose the name of the first task created in this example because that is where the patch operation failed.

Step 6: Define the Boundary Event

Use the Create Intermediate/Boundary Event to define intermediate start, stop, or timer events.

To define the Boundary Event, follow the below steps:

1. From the component tools menu, click the Create StartEvent symbol and drag it to the canvas.
2. Click the Create StartEvent and select the Append Task.

   

3. Click the Append Task and select the Append EndEvent.
4. From the component tools menu, click the Create Task symbol and drag it to the canvas.
5. Connect the Create StartEvent and Create Task using sequence arrow.
6. Connect the Create Task and Append EndEvent using sequence arrow.
7. Click the Create Task > Wrench Icon and then select the Service Task.
8. From the component tools menu, click the Create Intermediate/Boundary Event symbol and drag it to one of the Append Task corners.
9. Click the Create Intermediate/Boundary Event > Wrench Icon and choose one of the following options:
   • Timer Boundary Event
   • Error Boundary Event

10. Now, define the Service Task properties and click Save & Deploy.

Step 7: Define the Completion Task and End Events

After successful patch validation, a sent-type task is needed to send an email notification to DevOps.

1. Click the previously created validation task and select the Append Task icon.
2. For the newly created task, click the Change type icon and choose Send Task.
3. Click the task symbol on the canvas to display the send task properties.
4. Enter the task Name. The task ID is automatically populated.
5. For the Input field, enter a $ character to display the list of available input sources. Choose the name of the patch validation task previously defined.
6. To specify the Message Recipient, click Add/Modify.
7. Select a recipient from the list and click Add.
8. Select the Notification Template that has been created. Refer the Document for instructions on how to create a notification templates.

   Note

   1. To view automation related data under Setup > Notifications > Templates, you need to enable the Process Automation Add-on for the partner/client.
   2. The SendTask feature uses Notification Templates created in the Setup > Notifications > Templates section. The data saved in these templates is sent in email notifications. Templates are categorized by input types such as Alert, Incident, Resource, Task, and JSON Object. Users can select available tokens based on the chosen input type.
      
      For JSON objects, if the user does not select any Integration & Event name, the only supported token is $output.
9. Select a Notification Priority.

Complete the process definition by defining an EndEvent.

1. Click the email notification task and select the Append EndEvent icon.
2. Click the end event symbol on the canvas to display the event properties.
3. Enter the event Name. The task ID is automatically populated.

Connect the failed path handler task to the end event:

1. From the component tools menu, select Activate the global connect tool connector.
2. Click the script task defined to create an alert.
3. Click the EndEvent symbol. This renders a connector between the task and end event.
4. Click the connector and in the Properties view enter a connector Name.

Click Save or Save & Deploy to save or save and deploy the new process definition. All required properties must be specified and a complete process workflow must be defined before you can save the definition.

Once the defined process is saved, it will be available on the Process Definitions home page.

Next Steps

Now that you know how to define, enable, and deploy a process, continue with the Process Definitions Home Page to learn more about managing process definitions.