Automation Manager Overview

The following section covers the main elements of the Automation Manager. For a policy (script) creation example please visit Example Policy Breakdown

Automation Manager Layout

When opened the Automation Manager interface consists of four panels:

Location

Pane

Note

Left (West)

Objects

Lists all of the available objects (modules) grouped under functional headings

Main (North)

Policy Builder

Used to construct or amend a .amp policy (script).

Right (East)

Help Panel

Returns description and parameter details when selecting a object in the Policy Builder pane. Enabled or disabled via the View menu.

Bottom (South)

Output

Displays the logging information when running a policy (from Run or Debug) with problems returned in Errors.

automation_manager

Policies

Policies are a collection of tasks (objects) that run in sequence.

To create a new policy:

  1. Launch the Automation Manager
  2. To create the policy:
    • Click New Policy in the north pane, or
    • Click the plus button in the menu bar, or
    • Go to File > New
  3. Enter a descriptive Name
  4. Provide information on its usage, parameter requirements... in the Description
  5. OK to proceed
  6.  

To edit a policy

  1. Launch Automation Manager
  2. Open the policy
    • Click Open Policy File in the north pane (available when Automation Manager launches), or
    • Go to File > Open, or
    • Click the Open button in the toolbar
  3. Navigate and select the target policy to open it in the north Policy Builder pane.
  4. Change the script
  5. User the Run or Debug option to test the script and ensure it is working (recommended)
  6. Click Save

Objects

Object (Policy Components)

The object panel contains over 600 pre-built components grouped under functional headings including.

Active Directory Domains and Trusts

Active Directory Sites and Services

Active Directory Users and Computers

Conditionals

Control Flow

DNS

Event Log

Exchange

Extensions

File Management

Formatting & Logging

Health & Performance

Hyper-V 2012 Hard Disk and DVD

Hyper-V 2012 Migration

Hyper-V 2012 Networking

Hyper-V 2012 Replication

Hyper-V 2012 Resource Pool

Hyper-V 2012 Snapshots

Hyper-V 2012 System

Hyper-V 2012 VHD and Storage

Hyper-V 2012 VM

IIS

Network

Office 365 Distribution Groups

Office 365 Mailbox

Office 365 Password Policy and License

Office 365 Security Roles and Groups

Office 365 User

Office 365 User Permissions

Printer

Processes

Registry

Restore Point

Services

SharePoint

SQL Server

SSH

System

Telnet

User Management

Wake On Lan

Windows Defender

Windows Firewall

Groupings from Automation Manager version 2.4.0.40

Add an Object to a Policy

Browse or Search through the Object pane to find the target component.

Drag and drop objects onto the Policy Builder frame in the order they execute. Use drag and drop to reorder objects in the policy and change the order they run.

If you cannot find an object that meets your needs, you can use the Run PowerShell Script component to insert a custom PowerShell script into the project.

To remove an object from a script, right-click on its title bar in the policy and choose Delete. Depending on the object this menu may include the option to Cut, Copy, Paste, Copy as Image, Save as Image and Toggle Breakpoint.

An exclamation mark against a policy object indicates that a field may need attention. Hovering over the exclamation mark displays details of the potential issue.

am_script_errors

Help Panel (Object Information)

The right Help Panel (if enabled in the View menu) contains description and parameter information on policies highlighted in the Policy Builder:

Help Panel If/Else Example

If/Else

Performs an action if the given condition is met, otherwise performs a different action.

Input Parameters

Variable

String, Required

The variable that contains the value to check.

Condition

String,Required

The logical condition to check.

Value

String,Required

The value to compare against the variable value.

Output Parameters

No output parameters

An exclamation mark is displayed against a object in the policy to flag that a field may require attention and hovering over the exclamation mark displays details of the potential issue.

am_script_errors

Control Flow

Conditional statements or actions are amongst the main building blocks of a policy and are listed under Control Flow.

Control Flow objects take the output from another component and make a decision based on that output's result.

These objects include:

  • If (If X Condition, Value Then Y)
  • If / Else (If X Condition, Value Then Y Else Z)
  • For Each (For each item in X do Y)

In the below example: If File Exists (Object) Equals (Condition) True (Value) Then Move File (Object) Else Create File (Object):

am_vari_list

If unsure of the available options when entering a conditional Value, we would suggest running the policy (File, Run) and reviewing the information in the Output panel.

Output Example: Conditional False

Output Example: Conditional True

    Input parameters:

      File: c:\test.txt

      LastRun: 01/01/0001 00:00:00

    Output parameters:

      Result:

        Completed without errors

    Conditional:

        False

    Input parameters:

      File: c:\test.txt

      LastRun: 01/01/0001 00:00:00

    Output parameters:

      Result:

        Completed without errors

    Conditional:

        True

Parameters and Object Linking

Parameters specify the values processed by a policy. They may be pre-populated when constructing a policy, enter specific values in all object fields. By linking the object to another component of variable. By prompting the user to enter a value when configuring the policy on the Dashboard.

Each object has different parameter requirements. This information, along with a description of the object, is available in the Help Panel when highlighting an object

Input Parameters

The policy's Input Parameters are configured by clicking on the policy's Input button.

Complete the Input Parameter fields to apply every time the policy runs. Leave the fields blank to prompt the user to enter a value when configuring the policy as an Automated Task or Script Check on the Dashboard.

Field

Note

Name

Variable name: cannot contain spaces and must be unique

Display

The label of the field as it appears in the Dashboard

Type

Choose the input type from the drop-down:

Date

Numeric value indicating a calendar date in the format mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss

Number

Numeric value

Password

Security password

String

Alphanumeric character string

Value

The data input field. This can be left blank, or pre-populated to provide an example for the user adding the Script Check or Automated Task.

Linking Objects and Variables

As objects in the policy rely on other components or parameters, they are linked by clicking on their chain icon. This opens the Object Link dialog that lists all the preceding objects in the policy along with the associated parameters. Select the target value and okay to apply.

Example Input Parameter Dialog and Object Link:

am_input_para2 am_object

Test the Policy (Script)

We would suggest using the Automation Manager's Run or Debug options to test the script once it is complete.

Run

Use one of the following options to execute the script in real-time.

  • Ctrl + F5
  • Click on the play icon in the toolbar
  • Go to File > Run

Debug

Use one of the following options to execute the script one object at a time to help review its progress.

  • F5
  • Go to Debug > Go

Regardless of the method used to run the script, logging details appear in the Output pane.

If the script performs as expected, upload it to the Dashboard using the Script Manager.

What do you want to do?