Workflow- Server Start
You can invoke the Server Start workflow when you discover that the BMC AO host system cannot ping the target server system. If attempting a Server Restart workflow, you typically discover this failure during the Server Restart's triage phase. The Server Start workflow attempts to start the server through the Wake_on_Lan command. As a utility workflow, it does not create an incident.
The Server Start workflow can apply to virtual machines and VMware ESX server hosts, provided they support the Wake_on_Lan command.
Configuration guidelines
Ensure that the server credentials are added to the AutoPilot Credentials Store. Check whether the format of the Wake_on_Lan command is appropriate for your environment.
In the BMC TrueSight Infrastructure Management Server, the action definitions for the Server Start workflow are located in the installationDirectory\pw\server\etc\cellName\kb\bin\ao_actions.mrl file.
An extract from the ao_actions.mrl file depicts the action definition of this workflow for the manual, on-demand launch.
action 'Atrium Orchestrator Actions'.'Utility - Server Start':
{
['Administrator', 'Full Access', 'Data Collection Administrator', 'Event Administrator', 'Event Operator', 'Data Collection Operator', 'Event Operator Supervisor', 'Data Collection Supervisor']
}
[
'Create Change Request':MC_TRUEFALSE($CREATECHANGERQUEST),
'Change Request Type':MC_CHANGEREQUESTTYPE($CHANGEREQUESTTYPE),
'Server Name' : STRING($HOST),
'MAC Address' : STRING($MAC_ADDRESS),
'IP Address' : STRING($IP_ADDRESS),
'Subnet': STRING($SUBNET),
'Port' : STRING($PORT)
]
:EVENT($EV) where [ $EV.status != 'CLOSED' AND $EV.status
!= 'BLACKOUT']
{
action_requestor($UID,$PWD);
opadd($EV, "Triage and Remediate Server Restart", $UID); admin_execute(BEMGW,$EV,"Atrium_Orchestrator_Server_Restart_
Workflow",[$CREATECHANGERQUEST, $CHANGEREQUESTTYPE,"false","true",$UID,$HOST,"start",$MAC_ADDRESS,
$IP_ADDRESS,$SUBNET,$PORT],YES);
}
END
Launching the workflow
You can launch this workflow only as a manual, on-demand workflow from the operator console from any event except for a closed or blackout event.
From the event view of the Operations Console, select the event, and choose the Tools > Remote Actions > Atrium Orchestrator Actions > Utility - Server Start workflow entry. Then, complete the Execute Actions dialog box. See the following table to determine which input value to select for the Server Start workflow.
Input parameter | Description |
|---|---|
Create Change Request | Boolean. True/false indicator that shows whether you want to create a change request in BMC Remedy Change Management System. If you choose false, the Change Request Type parameter is ignored. |
Change Request Type | String. Specifies the type of change request (normal/preapproved) |
Server Name | Fully qualified host name or IP address of the target server If you do not specify a server name, then the mc_host value of the event is used to populate this field. |
MAC address | the Media Access Control address assigned to the network adapter or interface card of the server. Required input for the Wake_on_Lan network command. |
IP address | IP address of server to be started |
Subnet | The subdivision of the IP network where the target server resides The default subnet mask is 255.255.255.255. |
Port | Port number to which the Wake_on_Lan network command is sent The default port number is 7. |
Common framework: Event processing
The target server host is represented by the mc_host slot in the event mapping table that the workflow interprets.
After extracting the configuration data from the event, the common framework determines the logging level for the workflow, sets the level at normal or detailed, and updates the event information in the Notes dialog box of the Operations Console accordingly.
Server Start processing
The Server Start workflow consists of using the Wake_on_Lan networking standard to send a network message command to start the server.
If the server is started successfully, the workflow goes to the validation process.
Validation processing
The workflow again extracts the configuration data and updates the event notes. The workflow then goes into a pause state, based on the value assigned to the Validation_Pause_Count_Minutes item in the configuration module. The workflow waits for the server to start.
After the pause count expires, the BMC AO host system again pings the target host. If the target host responds to the ping, then the workflow checks the uptime to see how long the server has been running since the start. The workflow then sets the validation status and updates the event information. After the validation is complete, the workflow closes the task and updates the event notes.