Automating IT Infrastructure operations

Employees raise a variety of IT infrastructure requests for routine requirements or when they face the following issues:

The computer is running slow due to low disk space, and some software is not working properly.
Performance is impacted due to VM configuration changes.
New domain accounts are required for onboarding or creating new users.

The IT infrastructure operations are routine and can be automated. Automating these operations ensures that the entire workflow runs without manual intervention, and your team can focus on other crucial tasks. This automation increases their productivity and efficiency by at least 50%.

Scenario

Apex Global employees use BMC Helix ITSM for service management processes. Employees raise requests to the IT department for operations such as extending disks or configuring DNS. The IT Infrastructure team usually needs to manually perform server operations and then respond to employees when the task is complete.

To simplify and speed up IT operations, the IT Infrastructure team has automated some routine server operations so that team members can easily perform these tasks.

Benefits

Automating IT Infrastructure tasks provides the following benefits:

Saves time and effort required for carrying out repetitive tasks
Reduces the need for manual intervention and minimizes human errors
Enables the team to work on critical requests by automatically running standard tasks

Automating the domain account creation

When onboarding new users, assign them a domain account to ensure they have the necessary access to system resources. This account is critical for logging in, accessing shared files, and using the key applications in the system. By providing a domain account, you enable new employees to perform their tasks efficiently and integrate smoothly into the system infrastructure.

Instead of raising a request via an Active Directory, the IT Infrastructure engineer can create a domain account automatically.

The workflow for creating the domain account is as follows:

The requester creates a service request to create a new domain account and adds details such as role, group, and user name.
The approver reviews and approves the request.
After the request is approved, the automation process is initiated, and the process creates a new domain account.
Upon process completion, the requester receives an email notification with the new domain account details.

Automating DNS operations

An IT Infrastructure engineer configures and runs various DNS operations during the activation of a new system, onboarding new users, migrating to a new system, or upgrading a system. These tasks include setting up DNS servers, managing domain names, and ensuring proper resolution of network addresses. By handling these DNS operations, the engineer ensures seamless connectivity and optimal network performance during critical phases of system changes.

An IT Infrastructure engineer can automate the following DNS operations:

Create Internal Virtual IP (VIP)
Create External CNAME Record
Create External VIP (A Record)
Change TTL (Time To Live)
Create A Custom Internal Record
Create An Internal CNAME Record

The automation process ensures that the employees do not have to access the DNS portal to configure DNS.

The workflow for configuring the DNS operations is as follows:

The requester creates a service request for configuring DNS.
The approver reviews and approves the request.
After the request is approved, the automation process is initiated, and the process performs the operation specified in the request.
Upon process completion, the requester and approver receive an email notification.

Automating VM operations

The IT Infrastructure engineer performs the following operations to verify how VM resources are arranged and deployed, facilitating them to operate effectively:

Extend RAM and CPU
Take VM Snapshot
Revert VM Snapshot
Decommission VM
Shut Down VM
Power On VM
Delete VM Snapshot

The workflow for running the VM operations is as follows:

The requester creates a service request with details such as the VM name, server host name, and the operation to be performed.
A secret key is required to perform restricted operations, such as reverting, decommissioning VMs, and deleting VM snapshots.
The approver reviews and approves the request.
After the request is approved, the automation process is initiated, and the process performs the operation specified in the request.
Upon process completion, the requester and approver receive an email notification.

Automating the disk extension task

An IT Infrastructure engineer can automate the process of extending the disk capacity when it reaches a predefined threshold value.

The workflow for automating the disk extension is as follows:

The requester creates a service request with details such as data center name, server host name, mount points, current size, and new size.
The approver reviews and approves the request.
After the request is approved, the automation process is initiated, and the process confirms if the new size does not exceed a specified value.
If free space is available, the automation process extends the disk size.
Upon process completion, the requester and approver receive an email notification.