The automations feature in Operations Manager allows users to control when, how, and with what data a workflow should run. It is designed to replace Automation Catalog at some point in the future. At this time, however, Operations Manager is a purely additive application. You can migrate existing automations from Automation Catalog or create new automations within Operations Manager.
Migrating an Automation from Automation Catalog
To migrate an existing Automation Catalog item:
Click the Migrate option in the action dropdown menu:
Figure 1: Migrate Existing Automation
Upon confirming the migration, you will be redirected to the newly-created Automation Details page in Operations Manager.
Figure 2: Automation Details
Migrating Automation Triggers
Each migrated automation will automatically have a manual trigger created. This preserves the existing manual run functionality in Automation Catalog using the play button.
If the migrated automation ran on a schedule, a scheduled trigger will also be created with the scheduled options for that migrated automation. Please note, the migrated schedule trigger must be enabled in Operations Manager post-migration. If form data was assigned to the scheduled automation, it will also be added to the newly-created scheduled trigger.
The migrated Automation Catalog item will be preserved in Automation Catalog. Make sure to delete the Automation Catalog item or turn off its schedule if no longer needed post-migration.
Figure 3: Table of Migrated Automation Triggers
Operations Manager UI
The main icons and features of the Operations Manager home page are referenced in the table below.
Figure 4: Operations Manager Home Page
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Create | Icon to create a new automation. |
| 2 | Import | Icon to import an automation .json file. |
| 3 | Home | Links to the Operations Manager home page. |
| 4 | File | Links to Operations Manager documentation. |
| 5 | Grid | Icon to display the Automations collection view. |
| 6 | Quick Start | Contains links to important functions within Operations Manager such as finding an automation, creating a new automation, and searching Itential documentation. |
Automation Details
The Automation Details view in Operations Manager is the hub for managing your automation and its associated triggers.
Figure 5: Automation Details View
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toolbar | Action icons from within the Automation Details view. These icons (from left to right) are: Save, Clone, Export, and Run. |
| 2 | Menu | Menu button to show the automation metadata, or delete the automation. |
| 3 | Trigger | Button to show the Create Trigger modal. |
| 4 | Workflow | Dropdown used to select/assign a workflow to the automation. |
Action Icons for Automation Details
The action icons within the Automation Details view are referenced in the table below.
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Save changes to the automation name and/or description. |
 |
Clone the current automation, and include any assigned triggers. |
 |
Export the current automation and assigned triggers to a .json file. |
 |
Open a modal to choose an enabled manual trigger to run. If the automation does not have an enabled manual trigger, then an option is shown to create one. |
Automation Metadata
The metadata view shows detailed information about the automation and is where you can update permission groups for the automation.
Figure 6: Metadata Access Controls
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read Group Input | Select Read permission groups for automation. |
| 2 | Write Group Input | Select Write permission groups for automation. |
| 3 | Metadata Actions | Menu options to delete the automation, save changes to read and/or write groups, or cancel and hide the metadata information. |
Automations Collection View
The Automations collection view is where you can view all of your automations, perform bulk actions, and run automations that have manual triggers.
Figure 7: Automations Collection View
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Collection Toolbar | Action icons from within the Automation Collections view. These icons (from left to right) are: Create, Import, Refresh, Multi-select, Clone, Export, and Delete. |
| 2 | Search input | Searches automations by name. |
| 3 | Sort dropdown | Provides automation sort options. |
| 4 | Select circle | Checked when automation is selected. |
| 5 | Play button | Shows the modal to choose an enabled manual trigger to run. If the automation does not have an enabled manual trigger, then an option is shown to create one. |
| 6 | Menu button | Automation card actions from within the menu button. These actions (from top to bottom) are: Edit, Clone, Export, and Delete. |
Action Icons in Automations Collection
The action icons within the Automations Collection view are referenced in the table below.
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Opens the create automation modal. |
 |
Shows import modal for importing an automation .json file. |
 |
Refreshes the current automations in the grid. |
 |
Selects or deselects all automations in the collection view. |
|
Clones the selected automation. |
|
Exports the selected automation. One .json file is downloaded per automation selected to export. |
 |
Deletes selected automations. |
Automation Card Menu Options
The actions available within the menu button (stacked dots icon) of the automation card are referenced in the table below.
Figure 8: Automation Card Menu Options
| Menu Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Edit | Opens the Automation Details page for changes to be made. |
| Clone | Clones the automation. |
| Export | Exports the current automation and assigned triggers to a .json file. |
| Delete | Deletes the automation. |
Triggers
Triggers enable you to run automations in four different ways, each described in the table below. You can assign as many triggers as you like to an automation and have more than one of each type. You can find more details about each trigger type in the sections that follow.
| Trigger Type | Function |
|---|---|
| Manual | Runs the automation using its play button, with an optionally assigned JSON Form. |
| API Endpoint | Runs the automation from a unique endpoint using a POST call, optionally using the request body of the POST call as the assigned workflow's input. |
| Schedule | Runs the automation at some point in the future at an optional repeating frequency. Also includes an optionally assigned JSON Form. |
| Event | Runs the automation when a system event occurs. |
Workflows initiated by triggers will mention Operations Manager in the Job Manager job description.
Figure 9: Operations Manager in Job Manager
Creating and Editing Triggers
To create a trigger:
- Click the
+ Triggerbutton on the automation details page. - Use the dropdown to select the trigger type you want to create.
- You can edit a trigger using the action icon from the trigger table row.
Manual Triggers
Manual triggers run an automation using the play button.
Figure 10: Create Trigger Modal
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enabled | Toggle this switch to enable the trigger to run (or not run). |
| 2 | Name | Add or change the trigger name. |
| 3 | Type | Dropwdon men to select or change the type of the trigger to create. |
| 4 | Form | Optional. Dropdown menu to select the JSON Form to run the assigned workflow with. |
| 5 | Create new form | Click the plus (+) sign to open the Automation Studio create modal in a new tab to create a new JSON Form. |
| 6 | Current Form Data | The assigned form data for the trigger. Contains the default values from the JSON Form or the form data from the last run. |
| 7 | Save | Button to save the manual trigger and, if applicable, any assigned JSON Form data and its inputs. |
| 8 | Save and Run | Button to save the manual trigger and, if applicable, any assigned JSON Form data and its inputs. Immediately runs the automation with the JSON Form data after saving. |
Running Automations from Manual Triggers
To run an automation:
- Click the play button in the top left of the Automation Details page. The Run Automation modal opens.
- Select an enabled manual trigger to run the automation. You can also edit its optional JSON Form data.
- Click Run.
By having multiple manual triggers, you can more easily run an automation with different JSON Form data.
Figure 11: Manual Run Trigger Modal
API Endpoint Triggers
API Endpoint triggers are endpoints that will run the automation with POST request data. Each API trigger requires a unique route name.
URLs for endpoint triggers use this format:
/operations-manager/triggers/endpoint/:routeNameThe routeName is unique. This endpoint responds with information about the workflow that was started.
Figure 12: Create API Endpoint Trigger
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Action | The HTTP type will always be POST. |
| 2 | Route | Required name input. The unique route name for the endpoint. /operations-manager/triggers/endpoint/:routeName |
| 3 | POST-body Schema | Optional. The schema the POST request body must match. |
| 4 | JST (Optional) | Select the JST to transform the POST body to the assigned workflow's input schema. |
Schedule Triggers
Schedule triggers run the automation at some point in the future at an optional repeating frequency.
Note: The time and date selected in the modal and shown in the trigger table after saving is based on the user's current time and date.
Figure 13: Create Schedule Trigger
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Start On | Required. Calendar icon to choose date for when to start running the automation. |
| 2 | Run At | Required. Clock icon to choose time for when to start running the automation. |
| 3 | Repeat Every | Optional. Select the frequency (how often) the trigger should run the automation. |
| 4 | Process Missed Runs | Required. Should a scheduled item fail to run, this option sets whether or not Operations Manager should run all, none, or the most recently missed scheduled run. |
| 5 | Form | Optional. Select the JSON Form to run the assigned workflow with. |
Event Triggers
Event triggers run the automation whenever a system event topic occurs within the application. The payload from the event will be passed through to the automation's assigned workflow. Event topics are sourced from IAP and any installed adapters that expose topics. Refer to the Event System section of the IAP Developer Guide.
Figure 14: Edit Event Trigger
| Label | UI Element | Function |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Event | Required. Select the event that should run the automation. |
| 2 | JST (Optional) | Select the JST to transform the event payload. |
| 3 | Payload Schema Filter | Optional. The JSON schema that the event payload must conform to. |
Triggers UI
The triggers table is where to view an automation's triggers. You can view trigger names, types, and if they are enabled. If the trigger is a scheduled trigger, then the table also shows the date and time of the next scheduled run in your local time.
To edit or delete a trigger, hover to the far right of the trigger's row to view the trigger actions. If the trigger is a manual trigger, the option to run the trigger will be available. This will show the manual run modal, and behaves the same as the play button on the left of the Automation Details page and in the Automation Collections view.
