[Index]

Model: data/ProvisioningWorkflow

Provisioning Workflows

Provisioning Workflows are a combination of one or more: operations on entities, scripts and other workflows in a sequence according to a condition.

Entity operations can be add, delete or update that take place if a specified condition holds. A Configuration Template can also be associated with this operation on the entity. This association with a template can for example provide default values or calculated values (by macros) to the entity during the Provisioning Workflow execution. For delete and update operations, the operation can be refined by specifying Advanced find options for the selected entity, so that the operation can be applied to a specific instance of the entity.

Each step in a workflow can have one or more context variables. These variables can be referenced from for example a Configuration Template, using the namespace in a macro as {{pwf.VARIABLENAME}. The value of the variable remains set for the entire workflow until it is set again in another step. For example, if a variable TIMESTAMP is set to a macro {{fn.now}} in step 1 and then set to the same macro in step 2, the value of {{pwf.TIMESTAMP}} that is available at each step will have a different value.

Scripts can be executed as part of a workflow and applied to a device.

Finally, other Provisioning Workflows can be included in Provisioning Workflow as a step in the workflow sequence.

More than one of entity, script or workflow can be added. In such a case, the order steps in which the components are executed is the order in which they are in the Provisioning Workflow.

After Provisioning Workflows have been created, they can be added to another Provisioning Workflow or to a Domain Model where it is associated with a particular operation in the Domain Model. The selected operation overrides the equivalent Domain Model operation.

Create a Provisioning Workflow

1. Choose the hierarchy level for the Provisioning Workflow.

2. Choose Template Tools > Provisioning Workflows to open the Provisioning Workflows list view.

3. Click Add on the button bar to open the Provisioning Workflows input form.

4. On the Base tab, enter the workflow Name and optionally a Description.

5. On the Conditions section, Click Add adjacent to Conditions as required, and specify one or more Condition on the Conditions form. The format is a test or macro that resolves to True or False. If more than one Condition is added. The logical AND of all the conditions is evaluated.

   1. From the Action to perform on failure drop-down list, choose the required option, namely: Error or Skip.
   2. In the Error Message text box, enter the error message to display (if applicable).

6. On the Workflow section, click Add adjacent to Workflow to expand the workflow details. Add one or more workflows on the Workflow input form.

7. From the Operation drop-down list, choose the workflow operation to carry out:

   • Add - An instance will be added to a model.
   • Execute - A script (from data/Script) a will be run.
   • Include Workflow - Another workflow is included.
   • Remove - A model instance will be deleted.
   • Move - Move instances matching the Advanced Find Options to the hierarchy entered in the Context Hierarchy.
   • Update - A model instance will be updated.
   • Refresh - Refresh resource data in the cache.
   • Purge - Used for Device Models only. Remove the resource from the cache.
   • Set - Set one or more of the Set Context Variables.
   • Exit Local - Exit the current workflow. Parent workflows may continue.
   • Exit Global - Exit all workflows of which this workflow may be a part.

   If a Foreach List Macro is also entered for the operation, then this condition is evaluated with each loop.

   If a Set operation is selected, only the following options apply: Conditions, Context Hierarchy and Set Context Variables. This operation makes it possible to set variables within the context of the workflow. The variables can for example be accessed in other steps of the workflow.

8. From the Step Type drop-down list, choose the Step Type of the operation:

   • Provisioning Workflow - When the operation is to include a workflow.
   • Model - When the operation is to add, remove or update.

9. From the Entity or Workflow drop-down list, choose the model or workflow that applies to the workflow step.

10. Enter the required Context Hierarchy from which to carry out the workflow.

11. If a macro is defined in a workflow that returns a value such that a Configuration Template is not required its use as payload for an operation in a workflow step, then the Assigned Variable used for this macro value can be used as Map Data in a workflow step.

    For example, if in a For List Macro the Macro List Lookup was {# input.Phone #}, with Assigned Variable set as PhoneX, then Map Data can be {{input.PhoneX}}. The value of this variable with each loop can then be a payload for an Add workflow step for say device/cucm/Phone.

12. Enter a description of the workflow step if required.

13. Select the Execute Asynchronously checkbox to specify if the workflow step can run asynchronously from other workflow steps. Asynchronous steps run at a low priority. By default workflows run synchronously.

    A workflow that contains an asynchronous step may show as a successful transaction even if the asynchronous step fails. In other words, step failures do not affect the parent workflow. If rollback is disabled on a parent workflow, this will also disable rollback on the step.

    It is recommended to use identifiable custom messages for workflows that contain asynchronous steps, so that the workflow transactions can be properly inspected in the transaction log.

14. In the Ignored Errors section, check the required check boxes to ignore errors, namely Duplicate Resource Found, Resource Not Found, and All Errors. If the All Errors check box is checked, operation errors such as add, remove or update relating to this workflow step will be ignored. Note that errors due to the workflow step's conditions will not be ignored.

15. In the Configuration Templates section, if the selected entity is a model, one or more Configuration Templates can be added to apply to the model when the workflow operation is carried out. Click Add adjacent to Configuration Templates to expand the template details.

    In a Provisioning Workflow, each Configuration Template can be associated with:

    • Advanced find options - If the Operation is Remove or Update, a target model instance can be searched for according to the value of a Model attribute. You can also enter custom values in the attribute drop-down. Two meta fields are supported, _bkey and _pkid. This allows you to search for data using the resource's pkid or bkey when doing an operation such as Modify, Remove, Execute and refresh. Only one of the values can be used since this is a unique identifier of the resource to find. The Mapped Value can be a macro, for example: {{input.MyVar1.name}} is a macro that holds the value of for example a Model attribute called name.

    • Foreach List Macro - A list of values in Macro List Lookup can be obtained and stored in an Assigned Variable that will be looped through, with each loop resulting in an application of the Configuration Template to the target model during the Operation to allow for repeatable objects in the model. The Configuration Template may itself contain Foreach Elements to for example configure nested elements in the repeatable objects of the model. Click Add adjacent to Foreach List Macro to expand the macro details.

      For example, if Macro List Lookup is {#self.RemoteDestination#} and Assigned Variable is MyVar1, then this variable will store the list of objects, for instance repeatable remote destinations, and where for example these objects have a name attribute, these can individually be referenced in the macro language by {{input.MyVar1.name}}.

      Note that if one or more of Condition is specified for the operation, then the evaluated condition is tested before each loop of the Foreach List Macro. Click Add adjacent to Conditions to expand the conditions details.

      If more than one Configuration Template is added, a single, "merged" configuration template is applied. If the target model contains arrays and an additional template contains Foreach Elements that apply to the array, these will be added to the previous template.

16. Enter the Context Hierarchy from which the workflow should be carried out. Specifying a value here makes it possible to override the context hierarchy to which the provisioning workflow belongs when it is created and used in a domain model.

    The Context Hierarchy is also used to indicate the target hierarchy if the Operation is Move.

17. If required, set any required variables for the step by adding variables to the Set Context Variables group.

18. To add more than one workflow, click Add as required. To change the order in which the workflows should be carried out, use the up-and down arrows.

19. On the Parameters tab, enter a value for Parallel.

    • True - Carry out the workflow in parallel. Not currently implemented.
    • False - This is the default value.

20. On the Parameters tab, enter a numeric value for Maximum Workers. The default value is 1. Other values are not currently implemented.

21. Click Save on the button bar to save the Provisioning Workflow.

The Provisioning Workflow is available for editing from data/ProvisioningWorkflow/{provisioning workflow name}, and for use in a Domain Model from the Provisioning Workflow drop-down list on the Workflows form.

Provisioning Workflows are a combination of one or more operations on entities, scripts and other workflows in a sequence according to a condition. Entity operations can be to add, delete or update if a specified condition holds. A Configuration Template can also be associated with this operation on the entity. This association with a template can for example provide default values or calculated values (from macros) to the entity during the Provisioning Workflow execution. An operation can also specify the inclusion of another workflow under a specified condition. For delete and update operations, the operation can be refined by specifying Advanced find options for the selected entity so that the operation can be applied to a specific instance of the entity. Scripts can also be executed on a device as part of a workflow. Provisioning Workflow operations can also loop through List Macros, assigning list items to an Assigned Variable for reference in other macros or Configuration Templates. List Macros in Provisioning Workflows enable batch operations and nested looping. Refer to the Macro Syntax section in the General Help.

Model Details: data/ProvisioningWorkflow