BMC Atrium Orchestrator

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What is BAO?

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Link for BSM

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Architecture
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BMC Atrium Orchestrator
BMC Atrium Orchestrator ties together the specialized
components of ITIL processes for Service Management,
Problem Management and Service Automation to deliver a
seamlessly integrated Business Service Management
environment to an enterprise.
Pre-built workflows rapidly deliver value in automating
routine operational procedures across IT management
functions and existing tools.
BMC Atrium Orchestrator run book automation executes
processes quickly, enforcing process compliance to achieve
high quality of service.
Problems are also resolved more quickly to increase service
availability.
The improvement in staff efficiency provides the headroom
within constrained resources to effectively pursue the
convergence of business and IT goals.
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Run Book Automation
Run Book Automation (RBA) is the ability to create
programmed responses to events that occur in enterprise IT
environments. RBA platforms enable enterprise data centers to
lower operating costs and improve operational efficiencies by:
Automating common IT administrative tasks such as
provisioning virtual machines, security IDs and mailboxes.
Increasing application availability by reducing the response
times to issue.
Automating disaster recovery procedures to reduce recovery
times from catastrophic events.
Facilitating communication between IT departments through
the integration of information across Service Desk, CMDBs and
Event Management systems.
Continually monitoring and enforcing compliance to industry
regulations and security standards.
Enforcing industry best practices and ITIL-compliant
processes.
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Components
Grid
Development Studio

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Grid
A grid is a group of servers that contain the Atrium
Orchestrator Platform and execute processes.
It is a logical collection of peers, usually executing
on different physical host computers that are
running a J2SE Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and a
minimal set of BMC Atrium Orchestrator
components.
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Development Studio
The Development Studio component of the BMC
Atrium Orchestrator solution is a workflow design
tool used to automate repetitive activities.

The application provides the ability to:

Build best-practice, ITIL based operational
processes
Test and validate operational processes
Aggregate disciplinespecific Atrium Orchestrator
process modules
Create and manage process schedules
Deploy process modules into an environment

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Grid Manager
The BMC Atrium Orchestrator platform is the backbone of
the Atrium Orchestrator solution.

Atrium Orchestrator Grid Manager is the platform
component that handles the communication between peers
on a grid.

It resides on the Configuration Distribution Peer (CDP)
server.

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Grid Manager Continued
It can be used to:

create, manage and remove grids, peers, adapters and
process schedules
deploy and activate modules
provide an audit trail for all workflow processes on the grid
display information about the running state for all configured
grids
capture key system performance indicators for grids, peers
and workflows
centralize administrative tasks including managing backups
provision a database for audit tracking
schedule processes
manage dynamic load distribution

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Grid Manager Continued
Using Grid Manager, IT administrators gain with
real-time views of and control over grid
components.
Grid Manager houses all grid component
configuration files, enabling easy distribution and
updates of configuration information.
The administration and management of operations
process modules also resides within Grid Manager.
Administrators can control or terminate scheduled
processes, manage peers, peer components, and
adapters to accommodate for issues or
maintenance windows that arise.

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To launch the application
From within a Web browser, navigate to the
following URL:

http://<host name or IP>:<CDP web server
port>/baocdp/gm

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CDP
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Tabs
Status
Manage
Administration
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Status Tab
The status screen is the default displayed upon a successful
login to Grid Manager.
The status screen can also be accessed by clicking the
Status tab at the top of the Grid Manager window.
This screen provides a visual indication of the condition of
peers and adapters enabled on specific grids.
The status screen provides links to the adapters,
components, and processes status screens for each grid
displayed.
Using the icons on this screen, you can start and stop peers
and adapters on the selected grid.
Scheduled processes can also be started and stopped on
the processes.
A link to the grid performance metrics is provided on this
screen.
Additionally, the manual configuration file for Development
Studio is accessed through the status screen.
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Manage Tab
The Manage tab provides access to maintain grids, peers,
adapters, and modules, along with the ability to configure
the database connection for metrics data and to view
configuration reports.
Configuration item (CI) values and schedules for active
modules can be edited using the modules and schedules
screens.
Peer rankings for CDPs are managed on the peers screen.
The database connection for process metrics collection is
configured and maintained through the metrics screen.
The peers within the grid can communicate using a variety
of methods, and work as a group.
They communicate concurrently to every other peer in the
group, and can detect which peers are running as well as
the load on those peers.


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Administration Tab
The Administration tab gives you the ability to
configure a repository database connection for
audit records and grid performance metrics. Within
the metrics screen, you determine which grid
performance metrics will be captured.

NOTE : Accounts with the roles of grid_admin or
designer do not have access to the
Administration tab.
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Managing Peers
By default, a CDP peer is included for each grid.
Any of the adapters assigned to a specific grid can
be enabled on peers on that grid.
Peers must be configured in Grid Manager prior to
installation of the peer on a server.

Peer types
BMC Atrium Orchestrator has three different types
of peers:

Configuration Distribution peer (CDP)
Activity peer (AP)
Lightweight Activity peer (LAP)

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Types of Peers
Configuration Distribution peer (CDP) - Overall configuration
manager for the BMC Atrium Orchestrator grid. A CDP
houses the Grid Manager and manages overall distribution
of software components to the peers across one or more
grids. Adapters are enabled on and workflow are deployed
from the CDP. When multiple CDPs are installed on a grid, a
High Availability (HACDP) is created.
Activity peer (AP) - Server software that runs a suite of
BMC Atrium Orchestrator software for the execution of
automated workflow and facilitates bi-directional
communication between adapters and third party
applications or external systems. An AP joins a grid upon
startup to communicate with the other peers.
Lightweight Activity peer (LAP) - BMC Atrium Orchestrator
peer that facilitates bi-directional communication between
adapters and third party applications or external systems.
This peer cannot execute processes or serve as a master
for any component; its function is to service adapter
requests and events.
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Managing Adapters
Adapters provide the interface between workflow
processes and external systems and applications.
Adapters are configured in Grid Manager to establish
connections and facilitate communications.
Adapters are used in Development Studio when
creating processes and in BMC Atrium Orchestrator
run books for executing processes and providing
input for rules to evaluate.

There are two categories of adapters:

Base adapters, which interface to systems using
standard protocols such as JDBC, Telnet, SSH, JMS,
etc.
Application adapters which interface to a specific
product.

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Adapters Continued
Within these categories, there are two types of
adapters:

Actor adapters: These are adapters that serve as an
interface to interact with external systems, sending
commands or requests and, in some cases,
receiving responses to the requests. An example
would be a mail actor adapter. This adapter would
be used to send an e-mail.
Monitor adapters: Monitor adapters listen on
external systems and, based on their configuration,
generate an event message. A mail Monitor
adapter would monitor an e-mail account on a
specified server and generate an event when a
specific message is received. This event could be
used to trigger a workflow process.

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Managing Schedules
The schedules for workflow processes are created
in Development Studio as part of a module.
Once a module has been activated on the grid, the
schedules for the workflow processes will populate
the Schedules screen.
Processes can be selected to run on demand,
outside of the defined schedule.
Existing schedules can also be modified from the
Schedules screen.

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Managing Modules
Modules are the basic units of work within BMC
Atrium Orchestrator.
Modules can be independent units of work or they
can have dependencies on processes in other
modules.
BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio
houses modules, and Grid Manager retains their
configuration, deployment, and status.

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Repo
Deploying modules

Modules are created in Development Studio, assigned
versions and exported as snapshots to a specified grid.
Within the library function of Grid Manager, specific module
versions can be deployed, distributing the ROAR files to all
the peers on the grid.
These ROAR files will be used by the peers to execute the
processes contained within the modules.
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Repo
Activating modules

Activating a module triggers the schedules
established for the processes contained in that
module.
Peers begin performing workflow according to the
Schedules defined in the activated modules.
Modules can be activated after deployment, or they
can be activated directly, without being deployed
first.
If a module is activated without being deployed,
the activation will distribute the ROAR files to the
peers and trigger the schedules in one step.

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Repo
Deactivating modules

Deactivating a module triggers the peers to cease
performing workflow processes in specified
modules.
Schedules defined in a deactivated module will no
longer appear on the Schedules screen.

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Repo
Copying modules

Modules can be copied from one grid's library to
another within Grid Manager.
Modules that contain workflow that refers to a
specific peer or adapter name cannot function in
the same manner as they did on the source grid if
these peers and adapters do not exist on the
target grid.

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Adapter Overview
Base Adapters
Application Adapters

Types of adapters:
Actor adapters
Monitor adapters
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Adapters Continued
Using Grid Manager, adapters are configured for specific Grids
and then enabled on one or more peers on the Grid. Any
adapter that used in a process must be enabled on at least one
peer on a Grid. The configuration is referenced when adapters
are called within processes.
Processes are created within Development Studio. Actor
adapters are used within workflow processes to perform
specific functions and to interface with external applications.
Schedules are created to trigger the execution of specific
processes.
Rules are also created within Development Studio to evaluate
events generated by monitor adapters. Rules contain event
criteria and specify a process to be executed when the true
case of the rule is met. The set of processes, schedules and
rules are contained within a module. Modules are exported
from Development Studio, within snapshots, to a grid's library
for deployment and activation in Grid Manager.
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Adapters Continued
Adapter configuration
Actor adapter requests
Actor adapter responses
Monitor adapter events
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Adapters Continued
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Adapter configuration

Adapters are configured in Grid Manager using an XML
document to define the connection details and adapter
properties.

Adapters Continued
Grid Manager field Description
Name Unique name used to reference adapter in workflow
processes.
Description Description of the adapter's purpose.
Type The type of adapter to be configured. The available
adapter types are contained in a drop down menu.
The types use the following naming convention: ro-
adapter-adapter type[version]. For example, an
adapter type for the Telnet adapter would be:
roadapter-telnet[1.2]
Properties

XML document that provides specific configuration
information for an adapter, also referred to as the
configuration node. Each adapter requires specific
information in the configuration node to enable
communications between systems or applications
and processes.
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Adapters Continued
Actor adapter requests

Actor adapters use requests to obtain data from
external systems and, in some cases, to affect
data in those systems.
These requests are configured within
Development Studio either in a call adapter
activity or an assign activity.

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Adapters Continued
Adapter request XML sample

<adapter-request>
<target-adapter>target_adapter_name</target-adapter>
<peer-location>
<location> this | any | best | peer </location>
<peer-name>peer_name</peer-name>
</peer-location>
<request-action>adapter specific request action text
</request-action>
<request-data>adapter specific request XML data
</request-data>
</adapter-request>

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Adapters Continued
Actor adapter responses

An actor adapter response contains the result
returned from an actor adapter request.
The contents of the response vary by adapter, and
not all adapters produce a response. When
available, the response can be assigned to a
context item.
This context item is entered in Development Studio
in the Adapter Output field of the call adapters
Property panel.
By assigning the adapter response to a context
item, the response can be used by subsequent
activities in the process.

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Adapters Continued
Monitor adapter events

Monitor adapters generate events for specific
occurrences of observed actions in external
systems.
The criteria for event generation are defined in the
adapter's configuration node in Grid Manager.
Monitor adapters begin generating events when
they are enabled on an active peer and an external
incident occurs that warrants an event notification
to be sent.
Each adapter event contains XML elements.

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Adapters Continued
Sample monitor adapter event

<adapter-event>
<source-adapter>adapter-name</source-
adapter>
<event>event text</event>
<data>event XML data</data>
</adapter-event>

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Base Adapters
There are nine base adapters that share some
common features and functionality and are
classified as terminal type adapters. They are:
File
Command Line
SSH
Kerberized SSH
Telnet
SCP
FTP
SFTP
Windows Command
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Base Adapters Continued
File adapter

The File adapter is an actor adapter that performs
read, write, append, and delete functions on a file.
By using a file name and an action (read, write,
append, or delete) arguments, the File adapter
performs the specified action on the file specified,
using the lines provided in the case of write and
append.

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Base Adapters Continued
Command Line adapter

The Command Line (CLI) adapter executes shell
commands.
This adapter does not need a configuration node, it
must be configured in the Grid Manager.

SSH adapters

The SSH adapter is used to execute commands on
a remote host via the SSH protocol.
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Base Adapters Continued
Telnet adapter

The Telnet adapter is used to execute commands
on a remote host via the Telnet protocol.

SCP adapter

The SCP adapter is used to transfer files between
the local host and a remote host.

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Base Adapters Continued
FTP adapter

The FTP adapter is used to transfer files and
perform specific commands on a remote target
using FTP protocol.

The following commands are supported by the FTP
adapter:
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Base Adapters Continued
Command Description
append Appends local file to an existing remote file.
cd Changes the directory on the remote server.
cdup Changes the directory on the remote server to the directory one level up
from the current directory.
Get Obtains a file from the remote server and places it on the local server.
Ls Lists the files on the remote server.
Mkdir Creates a directory on the remote server.
Mode Sets the transfer mode. Valid values: binary, ascii
Put Transfers a file from the local server to the remote server.
Pwd Prints the working directory from the remote server.
Rename Changes the name of a file on the remote server.
Rm Deletes a file from the remote server.
rmdir Deletes a directory from the remote server.
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Base Adapters Continued
SFTP adapter

The SFTP adapter is used for secure file transfers
and to perform specific commands on a secure
target using the SFTP protocol.

Windows Command adapter

The Windows Command adapter is used to execute
commands on a remote hosts running Windows
operating systems.

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Additional Base Adapters
HTTP adapter
JMS actor adapter
JMS monitor adapter
PowerShell adapter
Script adapter
SNMP actor adapter
SNMP monitor adapter
SQL actor adapter
SQL monitor adapter
Web Services adapter
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Additional Base Adapters Continued
HTTP adapter

The HTTP adapter is used to send an HTTP or HTTPS
request for a URL and process the response to return
the web page in XML format.

JMS adapters

JMS adapters belong to the Java package
com.realops.adapter.jms . There are two JMS
adapters available; they are the JMS actor adapter
and the JMS Monitor adapter.
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Additional Base Adapters Continued
JMS actor adapter

The JMS actor adapter uses the JNDI properties
specified to call a connection factory and obtain a
connection to the JMS provider. When passed a
destination lookup name (queue/topic) and a
message, it sends the message to the destination
specified.

JMS monitor adapter

The JMS monitor adapter is responsible for
monitoring queues and topics of a JMS provider for
new text messages.
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PowerShell adapter

The BMC Run Book Automation adapter for Microsoft
Windows PowerShell product is an adapter that is
used to execute PowerShell commands on remote
hosts running Microsoft Windows PowerShell.

Script adapter

The Script adapter executes Perl and Jython scripts.
Initial values of variables can be specified in a script,
and values can be retrieved upon execution.

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Additional Base Adapters Continued


SNMP actor adapter

The SNMP actor adapter is used to contact a remote
SNMP device and gather the current values of one or
more MIB variable instances from the SNMP agent.

SNMP monitor adapter

The SNMP Monitor adapter is responsible for receiving
traps from external systems and forwarding them to
the foundation in a known XML format.
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Additional Base Adapters Continued
SQL actor adapter

The SQL actor adapter provides the ability to
interact with an SQL database using JDBC.
The SQL actor adapter supports simple statement
and parameterized statements.
The driver for the SQL database to which this
adapter will connect must be placed in the
$RBA_HOME/lib/add-ons directory on each peer on
which the adapter is enabled.
Each peer will need to be restarted after the
placement of the jar file for the driver.


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Additional Base Adapters Continued
SQL monitor adapter

The SQL monitor adapter is used to query an SQL
database at a specified interval.
Rules can be created that execute specific
processes based on the results of the query.

Web Services adapter

The Web Services adapter is used to make RPC
requests via SOAP.

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Additional Base Adapters Continued
Mail Adapters
SMTP
IMAP
POP

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SMTP adapter

The SMTP adapter is used to send e-mail messages
via a configured SMTP server.

IMAP mail adapter

The IMAP mail adapter is used to check for messages
in a specified account on an IMAP mail server.
The account information is designated in the
configuration node for the adapter in Grid Manager.
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Mail Adapters Continued
Mail Adapters Continued
POP mail adapter

The POP mail adapter is used to check for
messages in a specified account on a POP3 mail
server.
The account information is designated in the
configuration node for the adapter in Grid Manager.
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Development Studio
The Development Studio component of the BMC
Atrium Orchestrator solution is a workflow design
tool used to automate repetitive activities.

The application provides the ability to:

Build best-practice, ITIL based operational
processes
Test and validate operational processes
Aggregate discipline-specific Atrium Orchestrator
process modules
Create and manage process schedules
Deploy process modules into an environment

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Launch Pad
The Launch Pad pane is the main navigation pane,
with five icons that launch Development Studio
components.

Designer
Library
Help
Debugger
Connections
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Process Designer
The Process Designer contains the process design
modeling tools at the core of Development Studio
and contains the Project Explorer, activity Palette,
and process Canvas components.

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Project Explorer
The Project Explorer displays all unbundled
modules and adapters including their processes.

The processes are ready for use or you may create
and customize your own in the Project Explorer.

The information in the Project Explorer is grouped
by RunBook, Module and Adapter.



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Project Explorer Continued
Run Book
A run book is a set of specialized modules and
workflows that, among other functions, orchestrates
actions in a specific domain. Often, run books are
purchased separately.

Module
A module is a set or grouping of processes or actions
along with certain optional rules, schedules and
configuration.

Adapter
Adapters allow processes to perform specialized
functions and to interface with external applications.

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Activity Palette
The activity Palette displays the process activities
used in workflow development.

To use an activity in workflow, you drag and drop
the displayed process activities onto the Process
Canvas.

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Process Canvas
The Process Canvas is the area where workflows
are created and edited.
Activities are dropped into the canvas from the
activity Palette.
When a process is selected, it consists of two tabs,
process tab that graphically displays the process
definition and the PDL tab that contains the details
of the process definition.

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Library Manager
The Library Manager provides the interface between
Development Studio and the grid library. In the Library
Manager has four tabs Import, Unbundle, Compare and
Export.

Import - adapters and modules are imported from the
Grid or local disk.

Unbundle - adapters and modules are unbundled after
being imported.

Compare Modules - compares two modules and displays
the differences. This tool may compare two modules within
Development Studio or it may compare a module in
Development Studio with a module in the grid library.


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Library Manager Continued
Export Modules - when design work is
completed, snapshots are created with the Library
Manager and exported to the grid library.
Snapshots contain adapters and modules in .roar
file. This file is exported to the grid library for
deployment and activation through Grid Manager.
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Debugger
The Debugger tool allows a user to step through
the testing of a process to ensure that the
anticipated outcome is achieved with the process.
You are able to execute the process, follow the
execution paths and see the context values
assigned throughout the process.
Breakpoints may be established on individual
activities.
A breakpoint is used by the Debugger tool to pause
the testing of a process on a specific activity and
permits you to perform more in-depth examination
of the process at that point.

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Connections
Development Studio may be used offline to create and edit
processes. However, those processes must be distributed to
the CDP (Configuration Distribution Peer) in order to run.
Connections establish communications between Grid
Manager and Development Studio.
Configuration is done through the Connections option in the
launch pad pane. You may configure multiple environments
for Development Studio, but only one may be active at a
time.
The currently active environment is indicated with a green
check.
Development Studio must be configured and connected to a
CDP when importing, exporting, testing, and debugging
processes.
You are prompted to login to the currently configured
Environment at the launch of Development Studio and also
prior to any action that would require a connection.

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Development Studio Function in Atrium Orchestrator
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Establish Connections
The first time the Development Studio is launched,
you must configure the connection to the existing
grids in an environment through a Configuration
Distribution Peer (CDP).

The CDP maintains the configuration in an XML
document.

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Create Modules
Modules are the basic units of work within BMC
Atrium Orchestrator. At a minimum, a module
consists of rules, schedules, a configuration and
processes.

Modules may be independent units of work or they
may have dependencies on processes in other
modules.

Rules and schedules apply to the processes contained
within a module. Module configuration items, much
like global context items, may be used by processes
across modules, provided they are within the same
grid.
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Modules Continued

Typically, a module contains at least one process.
Processes within a module may call processes from
other modules as part of a workflow. These called
processes create dependencies between modules.

To successfully execute a process that uses one or
more processes from another module, all relevant
modules must be active on the grid.
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Create Processes
Workflow processes reside
directly under a module
directory or within a
process directory under a
module.

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The Created Process
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Add Activities to a Process
Once the process is created, the process canvas
appears showing the Process tab as the default.

The start and end activity are displayed on the
process canvas.

You need to add activities to the process to create
the workflow.

Activities are found on the activity Palette in the
left hand pane.
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Activity Properties
Each activity in a process, with the exception of
the comments, join and end for activities, has
associated properties that can be defined, viewed
or edited within Development Studio.
These properties provide the parameters for the
activity, set logging messages and provide the
opportunity to add an activity specific description.

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Activity Property Panel
Properties Tab - The Properties tab is used to
define detailed information about a specific activity.
The fields within Properties vary depending on the
type of activity being defined.

Logging tab - Each activity can have process
logging associated with it. The Logging tab enables
you to configure process log messages to write
before and/or after the activity executes.

Metadata tab - Each activity has definable
metadata associated with it. The Metadata tab
enables you to define or edit the activity's
metadata.

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Compensations
Every process or activity can have a compensation
defined.

A compensation is a process that is executed if the
defined workflow process fails to run to
completion.

A process can fail due to unavailability of
resources, such as an adapter, or when the process
takes longer to complete than the allotted timeout
value.
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Compensations Continued
If the process fails to complete due to unavailable resources
when an activity executes, the compensation assigned to
the failing activity is executed.

If there is no compensation assigned to the failing activity,
the process compensation is executed instead.

If the process is a called Process, then the compensation
assigned to the call process activity executes.

If there is no compensation assigned to the call process
activity, the called process compensation executes instead.
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Setting Up Rules
The Rules designer allows you to create rules that
evaluate incoming events generated by Monitor
Adapters.

The rules evaluate the incoming XML input from the
Adapter event using an XPath expression. A process
is associated with each rule.

For modules activated on a Grid, the designated
process triggers for Monitor Adapter events that meet
the module's rule criteria.

Each rule triggers only one process, but a single
event may cause multiple rules to evaluate to 'true',
causing multiple processes to run.
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Setting the Schedule
The Job Scheduler allows you to schedule existing
processes in a module or adapter to run at specific
intervals.

To schedule a process, a job is created within the
module.

Once the module is deployed and activated on the
grid, the job loads into the scheduler for execution.

The Job schedule has three components: Start,
Frequency and Stop.
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Export the Process Module
Once design work is completed in Development
Studio, module snapshots are created with the
Library Manager and exported to the grid library.
Snapshots contain one or more modules in .roar
file. This file is exported to the grid library for
deployment and activation through Grid Manager.
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Activities
Start activity
End activity
Assign activity
Operator dialog activity
Switch activity
For activity
Spawn activity
Launch job activity

Utility
Metrics
Pause
Script activity
Call adapter
Integration mapping activity
Comments
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Each activity placed on a Process Canvas as part of a
workflow has specific properties associated with it.
Activities Continued
Start Activity

A start activity is automatically populated on the Process
Canvas upon creation of every Process. All processes must
originate from this activity. Input parameters are mapped
to Context items used within the process through the start
activity.
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Start Activity Icon

Activities Continued
End Activity

An End activity is automatically populated on the Process
Canvas upon creation of every process and all processes
must terminate with this activity.
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End Activity Icon

Activities Continued
Assign activity

The Assign activity is used to assign values to one or more
Context Items.

The value assigned can be one of the following types:
String, Numeric, Date, XML, Context Item, Dynamic Context or
Module Configuration.

The XML, Context Item, Module Configuration, System
Parameter, or Dynamic Context types allow for an optional
XPath/XSLT transform to be applied to the value provided.
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Assign Activity Icon

Activities Continued
Operator Dialog Activity

The Operator Dialog activity enables a workflow to request
user interaction during process execution. Values provided
during execution are mapped to Context Items and used in
subsequent activities in the Operator Process.
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Operator Dialog Activity Icon

Activities Continued
During execution of an Operator Process, the
Operator Dialog activity window displays and prompt
the user for inputs.

You define the header for this pop-up window and
provide a description of the data being requested of
the operator.

Within the description, the designer can insert the
values of Context Items and Module Configuration
Items or Groups to clearly indicate to the operator
the type of information being requested.

The designer also determines the type of inputs,
whether the requested inputs are required, and
whether these inputs have a default value.

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Activities Continued
There are six input types that can be used to
define an operator input:
String
Password
Numeric
Date
Boolean
List
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Activities Continued
Switch Activity

The Switch activity allows for conditional Process
paths to be executed, based on one or more
conditions evaluating to 'true'. If all case paths
evaluate to 'false', the default path is taken. When a
Switch activity is placed on the Process Canvas, a Join
activity is automatically placed to the right of it. All
paths originating from a Switch activity must be
terminated at the corresponding Join activity.

Note: The Join activity cannot be deleted individually.
When a Switch activity is deleted, all activities
connected to the Switch along with the Join activity
will be deleted together as a group. activities
contained between the Switch and Join can also be
deleted individually.

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Activities Continued
The Switch activity is pre-
populated with two ports,
default and case. The default
port's chain of activities is
executed in the event no case
port path conditions evaluate
to 'true'.

The default path does not have
associated properties. The
activities on this path are
executed in the event that none
of the conditions on any case
path evaluate to true.
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For Activity

The For activity allows for iterative processing of a list
of input data within a process.
When a For activity is placed on the Process Canvas,
an End For activity is automatically placed to the right
of it.
A For activity is linked to a series of activities,
terminating at an End For activity.
The Process will execute the linked activities between
the For and End For activities for each item in the list,
moving to the next item on the list each time the End
For activity is reached.
When all items in the list have been processed by the
For loop activities, the Process will continue with the
activities that follow the End For activity.
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Activities Continued
For Activity Icon

Spawn Activity

The spawn activity allows two or more process paths to be
executed in parallel.
When a spawn activity is placed on the Process Canvas, a
join activity is automatically placed to the right of it.
All paths originating from a spawn activity must be
terminated at the corresponding join activity.

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Activities Continued
Spawn Activity Icon

Launch Job Activity

The launch job activity spawns a new process and executes
the existing workflow not waiting for the launched process
to complete.
A useful example of this feature is, verifying the number of
servers to run a nightly job. In this example, the site has
approximately 2000 servers and the workflow runs for 2
minutes. Rather than run at 2000 multiplied by 2 min, the
workflow launches in parallel.

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Launch Job Activity Icon

Activities Continued


Utility

The Utility activity allows common actions to be performed on
Strings, Numbers and Dates. The resulting value is saved in an
Output Context item.

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Activities Continued
Utility Activity Icon

Pause

The Pause activity allows a process to be suspended for a
specific amount of time.
A pause activity can be used to wait for an external system
to perform a function and return a status, as in the case of
validating the success of a remediation process.
If the process timeout is less than the pause time, the
process times out and a compensation will be executed in
lieu of finishing the process.
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Activities Continued
Pause Activity Icon

Script Activity

The Script activity allows Perl or Jython scripts to be either
written within the activity or referenced by a path to a
script file located in the Peer's local file system.

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Script Activity Icon

Activities Continued
Call Adapter

Adapters are used to interact with external systems. Each
actor adapter is configured in Grid Manager and then used
within a workflow process via a call adapter activity.

The call adapter activity executes an adapter request and,
when available, can assign the adapter's response to a
context item for use in subsequent activities. The format of
the request and response is specific to the adapter being
called.
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Call Adapter Activity Icon

Activities Continued
There are two options for designating the Adapter
Data Source:

'Static Value' or
'Context Key'

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Activities Continued
Comments

The Comments activity allows the user to place additional
information on the Process Canvas.
Comments can be used to clarify the functions of the
activities in a Process to make it easier for another user to
follow the logic of the workflow.

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Activities Continued
Context Item Overview

Context items hold values within a process.
These values may be different each time the process
executes, but the actions performed with the values remain
constant.

Context items may be:
local, persisting within a single process,
global, persisting within a Grid and available to be used
by any process residing on that Grid.
mapped to parameters

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Working With Contexts
Context Browser Window
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Create New Context Item
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Dynamic Contexts

In addition to context items, processes may also
use dynamic contexts to store values.
Dynamic contexts provide you with a method to
store data in a container that may have a variable
name.
With a context item, a value is assigned to a
specifically named container.
With a dynamic context, the name of the container
is the value of specific context item.
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Contexts Continued
The Transform Editor
Development Studio contains a Basic and
Advanced Transform Editor.
The Basic Transform Editor allows data
manipulation without using XML editors.
The Advanced Transform Editor is used to create
and test any XPath or XSLT expression applied
against a defined input.
The transform function enables you to format data
or extract specific segments of data and assign the
resulting output to a context item for use in
current or subsequent activities.
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Transform Editor Continued
Basic Transform Editor

The Transform Editor conducts basic
transformations without using XPath or XSLT.
When you use the Transform Editor the value of a
defined input is transformed and the result is
saved as a context item.
These operations are performed without writing an
XML document.
The transform editor is launched from the property
panel by clicking the Basic transform button.
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Transform Editor Continued
Test Frame

Test frame displays the
input used for the
transform.
In this frame you may edit
the sample value, Revert
to the original sample,
open a sample value from
the resource frame or Save
the current file to a sample
in the resource area.
XML samples are selected
and maintained in the
resource area.

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Preview frame

The Preview frame
displays the transform
results.

The current expression
executes against the
selected XML sample
and the results displays
in the Preview frame.
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Transform Editor Continued
Basic Transform Functions
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Advanced Transform Editor XPath
Transformations

The first time the Advanced Transform Editor is
accessed, a wizard is launched to step you through
setting up a transform.
You select either XPath or XSLT as the transform
type and can then select from XML samples and
templates to build the expression.


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Transform Editor Continued
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The expressions are built and tested within the Advanced
Transform Editor.
The XML sample is used to test the expression and the
results are displayed in a Preview Drawer.
Samples can be modified to accurately reflect the type of
data transformed during the actual process execution.
These samples can be saved and used to test future
expressions.
Sample responses for each BMC Atrium Orchestrator base
adapter are available.
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Transform Editor Continued
Testing and Debugging
Workflow
Testing a process : This feature provides you
with the ability to test the workflow they have
designed, prior to exporting it to the Grid for
deployment.

Debugging a process : The debugger tool allows
a user to step through the testing of a process to
ensure that the anticipated outcome is achieved
with the process. When debugging a process you
to execute the process, follow the execution paths
and see the context values assigned throughout
the process. The debugger tool uses breakpoints to
pause testing at an activity to perform more in-
depth examination of the process at that point.
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Operator Control Panel
The Operator Control Panel (OCP) is a portlet
within Atrium Orchestrator.
This feature enables you to manually execute and
track the progress of workflows.
You may run the OCP workflows in run-to-
completion or step-by-step mode.
The content on the OCP is determined by the
active modules on the Grid and their roles set for
the operator processes.
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Operator Control Panel Continued
Access to the OCP is controlled through user
accounts created in BMC Atrium Orchestrator
Access Manager.

To launch the Operator Control Panel

http://<host name or IP>:<CDPweb server
port>/baoocp/OPC.jsp

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Executing Workflows in OCP
There are two modes of workflow execution within
OCP.

Run Step-over - As the workflow runs, it pauses at
each activity and waits for your input. This input
could be, for example, a user name, password or
input value.

Run to Completion - The workflow runs to
completion with out any user input. Where
applicable, default values are used in place of user
input.
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Questions
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akram.shaikh@bt.com