Managing steps

A step is an individual and complete part of a request. Steps indicate the way a request is executed. A step includes components and automation scripts assigned to the application with which you are interacting. A step can also indicate a phase or run time phase (for example, “third phase of release”).

Steps can be completed in a series, where each step must be completed before starting the next, or they can be completed in parallel, where execution can proceed asynchronously to accommodate different dependencies in the work. There are also anytime steps, which can be performed at any time during the request, but must be finished to complete the request (for example, “update documentation”). In addition, you can schedule steps to be executed at the specified time. Multiple steps can be organized into groups by using procedures.

This topic consists of the following sections:

States of steps

Steps move through a series of states:

1. Locked
2. Scheduled
3. Ready
4. In Process
5. Blocked
6. Problem
7. Hold
8. Complete

When a request that contains steps is started, information about the various states through which the steps pass is displayed automatically.

To see steps that currently have a Ready, In Process, Problem, or Scheduled status, go to Dashboard > Currently Running Steps or Requests > Currently Running Steps. 

You can use the following filters further to display limited data for the currently running steps:

• Date range—Displays the steps that have the following status between the date range specified in the From and To fields:
  
  • Ready
  • In Process
  • Problem
  • Scheduled
  You can view data only upto the number of days in the past that is set in the Allowed Range field on the General page. By default, the To field is populated with the current date and the From field is populated with the current date minus the value you enter in the Allowed Range field. If this field is set to 0, there is no restriction on the number of days for which you can view data.
• Status—Displays steps that have the selected status
• Work task—Displays steps that have the selected work tasks assigned
• Owner—Displays steps that have the selected users assigned as the step owner
• Server—Displays steps that are assigned to the selected servers
• Component—Displays steps that are associated with the selected components
• Group—Displays steps that are associated with the selected user groups
• Environment—Displays steps that are created for a request with the selected environment
• Release—Displays steps that are associated with the selected release

To see all scheduled steps that currently have the Scheduled or Problem status, go to Dashboard > Scheduled steps or Requests > Scheduled steps.

Step dependency

NEW IN 5.0.03.005 You can define the dependency for a step. A step can be dependent on a request or a specific step of a request. For example, if a step is dependent on a request, the step will not execute unless all the steps of the request are executed. You can define this dependency only if you have the View Deployment Dependency Tab permission.

The following table lists the state of a dependent step (Column 2) when it starts executing. The state of the step depends on the state of the request (Column 1) on which the step is dependent. For example, if a dependent step in the In Process state and the current state of request is Complete, then dependent step also gets completed.

The following table lists the state of a dependent step (Column 2) when it starts executing. The state of the step depends on the current state of the step (Column 1) on which the step is dependent. For example, if a dependent step is in In Process state and waiting for the step (Column 1) to complete, and the step goes into the Problem state, then the dependent step also goes into the Problem state.  

To add steps to a request

You can add steps only to requests with the Created or Planned statuses.

1. On the Requests tab, click the appropriate request.

2. Click New Step below the steps of the request.

• In the New Step dialog box, enter the following information for the various fields:
  _{(Click each item to expand it and see the description.)}

   Name

  Enter a name to identify the step. You can save the step without specifying the name. When you save the step, a number or sequence is created automatically for the step, which you can use to identify the step.

   Type

  Select to use a package or a component in the step.

  To operate on packages, use custom automation scripts.

   Owner

  Select a user or group to which the on-going responsibilities for the request will be assigned. The Owner of a step is displayed in the Assigned to column on the request details page. If you use automation in the step, then the Assigned to value is Automatic. The following image shows that you can locate automation steps by the Automatic label in the Assigned to column:

  _{(click the image to expand it)}

  

   Component

  Select the component that you want to use in the step. In the list, you can see only those components assigned to the environment that you use in the request. The Component list is available only if you selected Component in the Type list.

   (New in 5.0.05) Continue In Problem

  Switch on this option to define the execution condition of the step even when the execution fails.

  If the Continue In Problem option is on, the request continues running. If the option is switched off, the request stops running.

  The following figure shows the New Step stepNumber dialog box:

  

  To indicate that the Continue In Problem function is activated for a particular step, the icon appears before the step. The following figure shows a series of steps in which the Continue In Problem function is denoted for selected steps:

  

  By default, this functionality is deactivated. The user can activate it at step creation or while editing the attributes of an existing step.

  Note

  The Continue In Problem flag at Step level is available only when the Continue Execution On Failure flag is activated at Request level.

   Package

  Select the package you want to use in the step. In the list, you can see only those packages assigned to the application that you use in the request. The Package list is available only if you selected Package in the Type list.

   Version

  Enter the component version for the step. The Version box is available only when you select a component from the Component list.

   Package instances

  Select the package instance that you want to use in the step. The Package Instances list is available only when you select a package from the Package list. You can create a new package instance, select one of the existing package instances, or select the last used package instance for this step.

   General tab

  The following image displays the New Step dialog box and the options available on the General tab.
  New Step dialog box - General tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  
  
  Specify information for the following items on the General tab:

  • Step Description:
    Enter information to describe the deployment task for which you are creating the step. Click [expand] or [collapse] under the field at the bottom-right corner, to expand or collapse the writing area for this field.

  • (Required to schedule a step) Step Time:

    The date and time format for scheduling steps follows the format specified under Settings > General > Date and Time Settings.  

    • To schedule the start of a step for a specific time, define the start time when a step should start. The end time is updated automatically and equals the start time.

    • To schedule the start of a step for a period of time, define the start and end time during which the step can start. When you set the date and time in the Start and Complete boxes, the time in the Estimate box is updated automatically.  

    Note

    If the previous serial step is not complete and the time for a scheduled step to start passes, the scheduled step does not start automatically. You can start the scheduled step manually after the previous serial step is complete.

    Example

    The step will start at 02:43 PM on September 10, 2015.

    

    The step can start from 02:00 PM to 03:00 PM on September 10, 2015.

    

  • (Required to schedule a step) Set to Start at Scheduled Time:
    Select this option to schedule the start for the execution of a step.
    When scheduled, a manual step moves to the Ready state and then can be completed manually while an automation step is completed automatically.
  • Set Start to End of Previous Serial Step:
    Select this option so that this step is run after the previous step in the sequence (added to the same request) is complete. You must have at least one step already added to the request to use this capability.

  • Set Start to Start of Previous Serial Step:
    Select this option so that this step is run simultaneously (in parallel) after the previous step in the sequence (added to the same request) is run. You must have at least one step already added to the request to use this capability.

  • Phase:
    Select from a list of available phases. To create phases, go to Environment > Metadata > Manage Phases.

  • Runtime Phase:
    Select from a list of available runtime phases. The list of runtime phases depends on the phase that you select. Runtime phases are assigned at the time when phases are created. To see a list of runtime phases, you must first add them under a particular phase in Environment > Metadata > Manage Phases. You can use the runtime phases in conditional procedures for the request. For more information about conditional procedures, see Managing procedures.

  • Work Task:
    Select from a list of available work tasks. You can see a list of work tasks depending on those created under Environment > Metadata > Manage Work Tasks.
  • Priority:
    Enter the step priority.
   Automation tab

  The following image displays the Automation tab in the New Step dialog box with automation scripts available for the BMC Remedy 7.6.x option selected.
  New Step dialog box - Automation tab
  ^{(Click the image to expand it)}
  

  Enter the following information for the automation script:

  1. In the Step Action list, select the appropriate automation script category.
     

     Each of these options represents a supported external system with which you can integrate the BMC Release Process Management product and perform various deployment tasks or automate manual tasks. General represents the other external systems with which you can integrate and perform tasks by using general automation scripts. You can select Manual to not use any automation scripts for performing your deployment tasks. By selecting one of the options in the preceding list, you can perform tasks by using automation scripts (imported earlier) that are available with the product or by creating your own new automation scripts. 

     When you select one of these options (except Manual), a Task box is displayed where you can select from a list of available scripts.

  2. In the Task list, select the automation script that you plan to use in a step.
     When you select a script, relevant automation parameter fields appear and you can use them to perform the deployment tasks.

     Note

     You can substitute automation parameters in a step for property values during runtime. To do this, for the appropriate parameter, enter the following: ${propertyName}.

     For example, if you have property1 with value1, then you must enter ${property1} and the parameter value is substituted for value1.

  3. In the Automation timeout box, enter time in seconds that is required for an automation script to complete. If the automation script is not complete within the timeout, the status of the step will change to Problem.

  4. (Optional) To run the automation script used in a step on all servers simultaneously, select the NSH Bulk Copy check box.

     Notes

     • Ensure that all target servers use NSH as their agent type.
     • For all servers in a bulk, the properties of the first selected server are set.

     For the completed Remote Shell automation scripts, on the Automation > Output tab, you can see the automation script output parameters set for each target server.
     For the completed Local Shell automation scripts, on the Automation > Output tab, you can see the automation script output parameters for the local server.

  For more information about automation and the various automation scripts available for each of the external systems supported, see the following topics:

  • Managing automation
  • Automation scripts for BMC Remedy IT Service Management Suite
  • Automation scripts for BMC Application Automation
  • Automation scripts for Hudson   
  • Automation scripts for other integrations (General scripts)
   (New in 5.0.03.005) Dependency tab

  The following image displays the Dependency tab in the New Step dialog box.
  New Step dialog box - Dependency tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  

  On the Dependency tab, you can do the following:

  • Toggle dependency of a step
  • Add the dependency of the current step on a request or a specific step of a request

  On the Steps page, a dependent step is indicated by D in front of the step.

   Notes tab

  The following image displays the Notes tab in the New Step dialog box.
  New Step dialog box - Notes tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  

  On the Notes tab, you can do the following:

  • Click Add Note to add details about the step. 
  • Determine information about the step after it is complete (for example, the servers used in a step, their status, and the server log).

  Note

  NEW IN 5.0.03.001BMC Release Process Management version 5.0.03.001 Patch 1 for Service Pack 3 onwards, to directly view the Notes tab for a step, you can now click the Notes icon on the Actions area for any step. 

   Tickets tab

  The following image displays the Tickets tab in the New Step dialog box.
  New Step dialog box - Tickets tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  
  
  The Tickets tab is displayed only if the request to which you are adding this step is assigned to the same plan with which the tickets are associated. For example, if you navigate to Environment > Metadata > Manage Tickets and create tickets, TKT1000, TKT1001, and TKT1002 and associate all of them to plan, BRPM2.6_December and if you create a step under a request associated to plan, BRPM2.6_December, the Tickets tab is displayed. You can use tickets that are displayed in two ways:

  • While creating a manual step (without using automation scripts), you can associate relevant tickets displayed on the Tickets tab by selecting them under the Actions column. In this way, you can associate relevant information about tickets with the step that you want to create.
  • While using automation scripts in the step, the tickets displayed under the Tickets tab can be associated to the automation script in use. For example, if you are select BMC Remedy 7.6.x from the list displayed for Step Action on the Automation tab and then select Remedy update change request from the list displayed for Task, and if you provide all the details except the change_request_id, the tickets selected on the Tickets tab are associated with the automation script. The selected tickets (change requests) are updated with the other details specified in the fields displayed for the Remedy update change request automation script.

  You can also set filters for the tickets by clicking Open Filters. These filter options are described in the following table:

  Filter	Description
  Integration	Under Integration, click the add link, to choose from a list of integration servers with which the tickets are associated and then click the done link. To modify your selection, click the edit link under Integration, and then click the done link.
  Type	Under Type, click the add link, to choose from a list of ticket types and then click the done link. To modify your selection, click the edit link under Type, and then click the done link.
  Status	Under Status, click the add link, to choose from a list of options that denote the various states of the tickets listed in the table and then click the done link. To modify your selection, click the edit link under Status, and then click the done link.
  Application	Under Application, click the add link, to choose from a list of applications with which the tickets are associated and then click the done link. To modify your selection, click the edit link under Application, and then click the done link.
  Association	Under Association, you can select one of the following options:  Selected: Click this to filter all the tickets selected under the Actions column in the table. Unselected: Click this to filter all the tickets not selected under the Actions column in the table. To modify your selection, click the edit link under Application, and then click the done link.

   Documents tab

  To add files containing additional information that might be required for executing the step or performing the deployment task:

  1. On the Documents tab, click Add, and then click Choose File. 
  2. Select the file located on your computer that you want to add, and then click Open. 
  3. To add multiple files, repeat steps 1 and 2.
   Properties tab

  The following image displays the Properties tab in the New Step dialog box.
  New Step dialog box - Properties tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  
  
  The Properties tab displays properties for both components and packages, depending on your selection in the Type field:

  • If you select Packages in the Type field, the properties are displayed for the selected package or package instance (if you specified an instance). If you select a different package or package instance, the Property tab updates with the corresponding properties.
  • If you select Component in the Type field, the properties are displayed for the selected component. If you select a different component, the Property tab updates with the corresponding properties.

  The changes you make to properties on the Properties tab are also applied to all of the steps of a request. You can change properties in the following ways:

  • You can add a number of steps associated to the same component (using the same properties) under one request. If you change the property value for any one of the steps, the changed value is applied to the same property throughout all the steps under that request. After the request is complete, the changed value is applied to the component assigned to the environment used for that request. You can verify this change by navigating to the Applications tab, clicking the environment used by that request, and then clicking the relevant component.
  • You can create a request template with steps by using the same component, and then use the request template to create a request and select a particular environment. Next, navigate to the Applications tab and click the same environment that you used to create the request. Edit the component under that environment and change the value of a certain property. The same value is updated in all the steps using that component under the request.
  • You can edit the property value for a step. When the value is changed for the step, the property value is changed for all steps in the request.

  Note

  You cannot edit a custom value for a property on the Properties tab if the property is locked for the application. For more information, see Managing properties.

   Server Properties tab

  The following image displays the Server Properties tab in the New Step dialog box.
  New Step dialog box - Server Properties tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  
  You can use this tab to select a list of targets or servers on which you want to execute your deployment task. When you click the Server Properties tab, a table displays the servers assigned to the environment associated with the request (to which you are adding this step). By default, all servers in the table are selected as target.

  Note

  If the component that you use in a step is associated with a server group, server level, or server-level group, you can see this server group, server level, or server-level group at the top of the target servers list.

  You can also assign additional servers to the step other than those displayed in the table. Click Target alternate servers and select the application, environment, and component to which the additional servers are assigned, and then click Target. The first list box represents a list of applications, the second list box represents a list of environments, and the third list box represents a list of components as indicated in the preceding figure. When you select the application, environment, and component, the system presents a list of servers if they are present in the database. You can select multiple servers from the list. When you save the step, the selected servers are added to the step.

  By default, target alternate servers are not allowed. If you want to use them, enable using alternate servers in System > Settings > General > Module - Steps.

  Notes

  • If you create a new server and associate it with the component, this new server is not automatically added to the existing steps that use this component. To add a newly created server to the step, select that server on the Server Properties tab and save your changes.
  • When you create a new request from a request template or by cloning an existing request and you change the request environment, steps that had no server assignments in the original request automatically get all available server assignments in the new request.
   Design tab

  The following image displays the Design tab in the New Step dialog box. The Design tab is available only if the corresponding request is in the Created state.
  New Step dialog box - Design tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}

  

  You can use this tab to customize the following additional settings for a step:

  Setting	Description
  Default Tab	In the list of available step tabs,selectthe tab that is displayed when you open the current step
  Additional Step Options	Protected—Select this check box if you do not want other users to change, reorder, or delete steps. Protected automation—Select this check box if you do not want other users to edit content on the Automation tab of the step. Suppress notification—Select this check box if you do not want to send email notifications for the events associated with the step. Executor data entry—Select this check box if you want to allow users with the Executor role to enter the following step settings: Automation script arguments Property values Version tags Alternate servers

   Content tab

  The following image displays the Content tab in the New Step dialog box. This tab is available only when you select Package in the Type field.
  New Step dialog box - Content tab
  _{(Click the image to expand it)}
  

  You can select the package references available for the package instance that you specified in the Package Instances field.

1. To save the step and close the New Step dialog box, click Add Step & Close.
2. To save the step, and then add additional steps, click Add Step & Continue.
3. To enable the step to be started anytime manually, select the Execute Anytime check box.

4. Click Save Step. 

   Note

   The Administrator must configure notifications for each stage of a step. For more information about configuring the notifications, see Changing notification options.

Columns in the list of steps are customizable for display. For more information, see To set your step list preferences.

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To use the links associated with the steps

When you open any request, you have access to the following links that you can use to work with the steps.

The set of links is divided into the following parts: Select and Actions. The following table describes how to use these links in BMC Release Process Management.

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To edit steps

1. On the Requests tab, click the request whose steps you want to edit.

2. From the list of steps, under the Actions tab, click on  Edit  for the step that you want to edit.

   Note

   You can only edit steps with the Locked status.

   However, irrespective of the status of the step, you can make changes to the Notes tab and the Documents tab.

3. In the Edit StepstepName dialog box, make changes to the step as per your requirement. 
   NEW IN 5.0.03 In the Automation tab, click Edit to edit the fields.

   Warning

   For data retriever scripts, if you edit a task and then select the previous task from the Task list, values configured for the previous task are not displayed. This is a known limitation that occurs while editing automation steps.

   Notes

   The Save Step option is enabled only after the changes for each edited field are saved.

   NEW IN 5.0.05 You can toggle the Continue In Problem option to modify the flag for the step. This functionality is deactivated by default.

4. To enable the step to be started anytime manually, select the Execute Anytime check box.

5. Click Save Step.

6. NEW IN 5.0.05 In the list of steps, under the Actions tab, click on  Execution Condition  for the step that you want to define the execution condition. The Edit Execution Condition stepName dialog box opens as follows:
   
   For the Step Status option:
   
   1. In the Step list, select the required step on which the condition of the present step must depend.
   2. In the Step Status list, select the appropriate status. The step status can be Problem or Complete.
   3. If you set any conditions earlier that you want to remove, select the Remove Condition check box.
   4. Click Save.

NEW IN 5.0.05 You can now complete an automatic step only if you have the permission to do so. If you are restricted from completing an automatic step, the green tick mark will be deactivated as show below:

To activate the permission to complete an automatic step, see Managing access permissions.

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To import steps

1. On the Requests tab, click the appropriate request.
2. On the right pane, click Import Steps.

3. In the Import/Paste Steps box:

   1. As the first line, enter the step parameters separated by comma.

   2. As the second line, enter values for the appropriate parameters separated by comma.

      Parameter	Description
      name	Name to identify the step
      description	Information to describe the deployment task for which you are creating the step
      component	Name of the component for the step that is assigned to the request environment
      assigned_to	Owner of the step—a group or a user that you want to associate with the step Note: For users, enter the user's first name, and then the last name.
      estimate	Estimated duration of the step in minutes
      automation	Automation script name
      NEW IN 5.0.02 start_by	The date on which a step should start executing Note: Specify in a dd/mm/yyyy format only.
      NEW IN 5.0.02 complete_by	The date on which a step should finish executing Note: Specify in a dd/mm/yyyy format only.
      NEW IN 5.0.03.005 deployment_dependency	true or false to indicate whether the execution of this step is dependent on a request or step
      NEW IN 5.0.03.005 dependent_request_id	ID of the request on which the execution of the current step is dependent. This parameter is required if you have set the deployment_dependency parameter to true.
      NEW IN 5.0.03.005 dependent_step_id	ID of the step on which the execution of the current step is dependent. parameter. This parameter is optional if you have set the deployment_dependency parameter to true and set the value of the dependent_request_id parameter.
      NEW IN 5.0.05 continue_on_failure	Information on whether the request should continue execution if a step within the request fails.

      Notes

      • For multiline values and values containing special symbols, use quotation marks.
      • All step parameters are optional. You do not need to specify the unused parameters for the imported steps.
      • To import multiple steps, add a new line with the appropriate parameter values for each new step.

      For example:

      name, description, component, assigned_to, estimate, automation, start_by, complete_by, deployment_dependency, dependent_request_id, dependenent_step_id
      'Step1','Importing Steps','AppContainer','John Administrator','130','Direct_execute','12/06/2017','12/07/2017','true','1008','34'

      NEW IN 5.0.05 For example with continue_on_failure flag at step level:

      name, description, component, assigned_to, estimate, automation, start_by, complete_by, deployment_dependency, dependent_request_id, dependenent_step_id, continue_on_failure
      'Step1','Importing Steps','AppContainer','John Administrator','130','Direct_execute','12/06/2017','12/07/2017','true','1008','34',true

4. Click Create Steps.
   The new step with the specified parameters is added to the request.

For more information about the step parameters, see To add steps to a request.

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