IT Automation Job

Home > ITOM > Job Queue > Create New Job > IT Automation Job

Introduction

IT Automation jobs are executed on Managed Devices selected from within the ITOM Inventory and can be initiated from various sources such as a Hornbill Business Process or AutoTask. Jobs can be executed on an ad-hoc basis as well as scheduled, or via a Runbook process, all configured via the Hornbill Administration portal. Packages are used to provide the automation payload and may require prerequisites to be in place along with security credentials. This information and details of all configurable parameters are provided via the Package documentation found in the ITOM Package Library.

Creating an IT Automation Job

Select the Create New option
Select IT Automation Job
Enter Name to identify the Job
Select the required Pacakage via the button
Select the Run Operation
Select a Site Target (SIS)
This can be a single Server or a Group
Select the required Target Machine
This can be from a previously created List, the Discovered Inventory list or Manually entered
Enter the relevant Credentials as required
The selected Run Operation determines this
Enter any necessary parameters
The selected Run Operation determines this
Click Create button

Job Properties

Name

Name provided to identify the IT Automation Job

Package

Package used to provide the IT Automation payload

Run Operation

Operation to perform using the package

Site Target

Specify the SIS Server or Group that will facilitate the Automation Job

Target Device

Select the Device(s) that the Operation will target

List

Target Devivces are sourced from a pre-created Inventory List

Inventory

Select a Device from the ITOM Inventory

Manual

Manually entered device name, that must already exist in the ITOM Inventory and is marked as a Managed device

Credentials

Sourced from the KeySafe, provides the security context to be used for package deployment and execution

Admin Credentials

Security Context used to deploy the package onto the target device(s)

Run As Credentials

Security Context used to execute the package on the target device(s) (if not provided then Admin Credentials are used)

Extra Credentials

Optional credentials used as part of the functionality within the package

Operation Parameters

Once a package and a Run Operation has been selected, any related parameters will be displayed; mandatory fields are highlighted and hints may be provided in the input box.

Job Details

Once the job has been created, details will be displayed showing information relating to the job, including the status of the job. Monitoring, Console and Debug Logging are provided for displaying a jobs progress and to aid with troubleshooting failures.

Summary

Shows the current status of the job and its name along with who created it and when

Package Details

Displays details of the deployment package, configured operation along with any arguments that were specified and job timeout limit

Target Information

Provides details of the SIS server that will facilitate the job, target machine and the security keys used

Execution Details

The execution details show when the job was started and completed along with any result code

Monitor

The Monitor frame provides information relating to the execution of the job; the details shown will be dependant on the type of discovery or package that is being been executed.

The above example shows that the process has started and provides an id, which can be used to identify the task executing the package on the target machine. Depending on the package configuration, the monitor will specify more than the process ID. In the above case, the package is configured to execute an executable program as a specific user, using the "Run As Credentials". The first ID is for the process that triggers the package execution, which triggers another process to run an executable using the provided credentials.

Console Output

All console output from the process will be displayed after this and will dependant on the package contents and configuration. Once the job has completed if there are any output parameters, they are processed and displayed, and confirmation of the job successful completion or failure will be output.

Once the job has completed the Console Output and Debug Log frames will become enabled. The Console Output provides a view of only the console output, including any error messages.

Debug Log

In cases where the Package may have failed or completed incorrectly, the Debug Log can be used to review errors and other technical information.

The Log provides three sections:

Full

Full debug log information

Standard

Information log entries

Problem

Warning and Error, entries that may identify potential problems

The sections output will depend on the job, and thus some sections may not be available

Action Buttons

Activate this Job

Enables a Deferred Job to be Activated for processing

Copy this Job

Copies the job's properties and allows for a new job to be created once edited

Cancel

When a job is cancelled its process will be sent a close message, therefore, allowing the process to close itself and all child processes in an orderly fashion

Abort

Aborting a Job causes the Job to be forcefully terminated immediately possibly causing child processes to be orphaned, and should only be used as a last resort