Automation Development Introduction

What is an Automation?

The Automation (also called Runbook) is the way to create automations in Resolve Actions Pro. It includes guided procedures and interactive automations that enable you, as an IT operator, system administrator, developer, or process expert, to automate incident resolution, system configuration, and processes provisioning.

A typical Runbook consists of a set of routine procedures (ActionTasks) to begin, stop, supervise, and debug a computer system or network. It can also describe operations for handling specific cases or incidents. When in operation, it interacts with applications, databases, and hardware that are part of your computer infrastructure.

You can create completely autonomous Runbooks or Runbooks that can interact with the user, providing additional information or taking responses. You can run Runbooks manually, schedule them, or trigger them on an event.

Components of a Runbook

The Runbook consist of the following components:

• Page (also called Wiki Page)—The page is a way to build a web page using either HTML/CSS/JavaScript or visually using pre-built components or Resolve markup. You can then use the Page to interact with the Runbook user—to show information or request input that you can use in the Automation component—or as a generic page for any purpose. You can find more information about creating Pages in Page Development.
• Automation—The automation is the executable component of a Runbook. It runs in response to events and other triggers. It uses variables, parameters, options, and others to communicate with users and to allow communication between its constituent ActionTasks and between processes. You can find more information about creating Automations in the following articles:
  • Automation Designer Overview
  • Building an Automation Model
  • Automation Model Flow Control
  • Programming the Automation Model
• Decision Tree—The Decision Tree is a way to create guided processes and interactive document searches and to complement keyword/tag searches and grouped catalogs and menus. The decision tree can interact with the Automation which is key to implementing Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) solutions. You can find more information about creating Decision Trees in Decision Tree Development.

All of the components are optional. For example, you can have a Runbook where only the Page part is defined or another where only the Automation part is defined; or you can have any combination of the components.