Working with operation templates

This topic provides instructions on adding, editing, sharing, copying, and removing operation templates and then creating an operation using a template.To understand the concept of operation templates, see Operations.

For working with operation templates, use the latest compatible version of TrueSight Server Automation. For details, see System-requirements.

To add an operation template

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, click Create New Template and do the following:

1. Enter a unique name and an optional description.

2. Select a job type.
   Currently, the following job types are supported: NSH Script, Deploy, Batch and Patch Policy

   Important

   • To create Batch jobs, use the latest compatible version of TrueSight Server Automation as mentioned in System-requirements..
   • Batch jobs that are configured using the "Use the following servers for all jobs" option in TrueSight Server Automation are supported.

3. Click Browse to select the job name and a location to save the job in TrueSight Server Automation.
   Based on the job type, jobs available in TrueSight Server Automation are generated in the dialog. If you select a deploy job, you cannot create another template using the same job. 

   What does the Allow Override option do?

   You can select Allow Override after selecting the job path to ensure that the job path can be changed while creating an operation.

4. Click Select Assets to select the assets or asset groups to be added to the template.

   Important

   For Patch Policy based users, you can select only asset_groups. 

   You can either enter a search term or use Advanced filter to select assets. Click Advanced filter and select the required filters, and click Done. You can select multiple search criteria from the following options:

   • Asset
   • Asset Tag

Assets that match the search results are displayed. Click Select to choose the assets.

1. (Optional) Select the Allow Override check box to ensure that the assets can be changed while creating an operation. 

2. In the Job Configuration section, edit the permitted and default values for the selected job based on your requirements. 
   Based on the type of the job, parameters are displayed. Only simple datatypes are supported as job parameters. 

   Can I allow users to specify customised values for a job parameter?

   Yes. You can edit the allowed values (Permitted Values) and the default value for the job. 

   If you want the user to provide any custom values (only string datatypes supported), ensure that you remove any values that are currently in the Permitted Values field. When you specify permitted values, operators can only choose from the list of specified values and cannot enter any custom values while creating an operation.

   If the number of job parameters are more, use the scroll bar to quickly navigate through the parameter list.

3. (Optional) Select the Allow Override check box to allow operators to change job parameters. 
4. (For a deploy job template only) Select one of the following reboot options:
   • Honor Deploy Reboot Settings: Adheres to the reboot settings defined for the job in TrueSight Server Automation
   • Do Not Reboot: Does not reboot automatically 
   • Reboot at the End: Reboots all assets after the job is complete
5. (For a Patch policy based template only) Select one of the following reboot options:
   • Honor Patch Reboot Settings: Adheres to the reboot settings defined for the job in TrueSight Server Automation
   • Do Not Reboot: Does not reboot automatically 
   • Reboot at the End: Reboots all assets after the job is complete
6. (Optional) Select the Allow Override check box to allow operators to change Reboot Option job parameters. 
7. To configure change request creation and approval, select the following options: 
   1. Enable Create Change Ticket and continue to select values in other fields for creating a change request. 
   2. ChangeTemplateName
   3. Urgency
   4. Impact
   5. ReasonforChange
   6. ChangeClass
8. (Optional) Select the Allow Override check box to ensure that change approval can be configured while creating an operation.
9. To configure Maintenance Schedule, specify Date and Time when you want to schedule the Operation using the Operation Template to run.
10. (For a Patch policy based template only) Select the hours or minutes in the Staging Before field to specify a staging and analysis window. 
11. (Optional) Select the Allow Override check box to allow operators to change Maintenance Schedule parameters. 
12. To configure notifications, select any of the following options: 
    • Send email to: Specify a comma-separated list of email addresses and then select one or more status options to send an email based on the operation status. 
    • Send SNMP trap to: Specify a host name or IP address of the server to notify the operation results and then select one or more status options when a notification should be sent.
    • List failed assets in the email
13. (Optional) Select Allow Override at any of the sections to allow users to override options in the template while creating an operation. If not selected, the options specified in the template cannot be changed while creating an operation. 
14. Click Create.
    The operation runs according to the defined schedule. If a change request is created, the operation runs after the change is approved. If you want to update the schedule for an operation in BMC Remedy ITSM, update the Schedule Start Date or the Schedule End Date for the task and not the change request.
15. If you want to immediately share the template with security groups after template creation, do the following:
    1. Click Create & Share.
    2. From the Security Groups list, select the security groups with which you want to share the template.

    3. Click Share. The selected groups can now access the template. The group names are displayed on the Operation Templates page.

       Important

       • The Create & Share option is currently disabled for Patch Based Operation Template.
       • When you create a patch policy based operation template, you cannot delete a patch policy that is used for creating an operation template. Also, if you edit such patch policy, all the operation templates that are created based on the patch policy are synced with the updated assets or asset groups.

To work with operation templates

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, you can perform the following actions: 

• Click a Template name to display the template configuration information. This information is displayed in view-only mode. 
• You can either search by using the template name (basic search) or by Template Name, Template Type, and Owner(Security Group) (advanced search).
• To search a template, you can either enter the template name or use Advanced filter to filter the templates.
  Click Advanced filter and select the required filters, and click Done. You can select multiple search criteria from the following options:
  • Template Name
  • Template Type

  • Owner (Security Group)

    Important

    You can click Select all to select all the sub-criteria within each option, and click Clear all to clear your selection.

    Templates that match the filters are displayed.

• To mark a template as a favorite, click Add Favorite 🟡️ (). When you select the Show Favorites check box, templates marked as favorites are displayed.

• To share a template with multiple security groups, click Actions > Share, select the groups from the list, and click Share. The shared template is now available for all the selected groups and the group names are displayed on the Operation Templates page. 

  The security groups with whom a template is shared must have access to the objects and jobs in TrueSight Server Automation. For more details, see User-roles-and-permissions. 

  Can I stop sharing the template with some security groups?

  Yes. Click Actions > Share and delete the groups with which you no longer want to share the template.

To create an operation by using a template

You create a remediation operation for an NSH Script Job, Deploy Job, Batch and Patch based Job in TrueSight Server Automation using any of the available templates. 

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, click Action > Create Operation against a template that you want to use to create an operation and do these steps:

1. Enter a unique operation name and an optional description.
   By default, an operation name appears in the <operation_template_name_{browser current date and time}> format. You can choose to specify any name.
   Values that are predefined in the template are listed in the panel on the right. For example, the following figure shows the predefined options in a template for an NSH job.  
   

2. Update the values based on your requirement.
   If the template is defined to allow users to override the default values, you can specify any of the following fields:

   • Save Job in
   • Asset Selection
   • Job Configuration
   • Change Approval
   • Maintenance Schedule
   • Notification

   If any of the options are disabled, it indicates that the template does not allow custom values.

3. To specify a schedule for the operation, select one of the following options: 
   
   • I will do it later: Change approval is not applicable and you skip to step 6.
   • Set a schedule: Click the calendar icon in the Date and Time field, and specify a date and a time. 
   • Execute now: Runs the job in TrueSight Server Automation. The status may get updated after a slight delay. 
4. To configure notifications, select any of the following options: 
   • Send email to: Specify a comma-separated list of email addresses, and then select whether to send an email based on the operation status. 
   • Send SNMP trap to: Specify a host name or IP address of the server to notify the operation results and then select one or more status options when a notification should be sent.
5. Click Create.
   An job operation is created and runs according to the defined schedule. To view details of an operation, on the Operations page, click Actions > View and the operation summary page is displayed, which shows the operation template name, operation name, operation type, remediation options, and other details. 

To edit an operation template

Editing the operation template does not affect the scheduled operations that use this template. Changes will be applicable only for new operations that are created using this template.

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, do these steps:

1. For an operation template that you want to update, click Actions > Edit.
   You cannot edit the name and operation type of the template. 
2. Make changes and click Update.
   Editing the operation template does not affect the scheduled operations that use this template. Changes are applicable for new operations only.

To copy an operation template

You can copy the operation templates created with the following job types only: NSH Script and Batch

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, click Actions > Copy against a template that you want to copy. The Create Operation Template page appears. You can chose to change any of the parameters and save changes to create a new template. 

To remove an operation template

On the Operations > Operation Templates page, click Actions > Remove to delete a template.

You can only delete a template if there are no operations created on the template. To delete a template, delete all the operations creating using the template.