Configuring Applications for the Ansible SyncPack

Download this manual as a PDF file 

This section describes how to set up the run book automations in SL1 and how to configure the PowerFlow applications in the "Ansible" SyncPack.

Workflow for Configuring the SyncPack

The following workflows describe how to configure SL1 and PowerFlow to work with the "Ansible" SyncPack.

Configuring SL1

  1. Enable the Ansible event policies
  2. Create a SOAP/XML credential to access PowerFlow
  3. Edit the Ansible run book actions
  4. Enable the Ansible run book automations

Configuring PowerFlow

  1. Create a configuration object
  2. Align the configuration object and configure the Ansible PowerFlow applications
  3. Schedule the PowerFlow applications

Configuring SL1

The following topics cover how to set up your SL1 instance to work with the "Ansible" SyncPack.

Enabling the Ansible Event Policies

The "Ansible Automation" PowerPack includes the following event policies that you can enable to trigger the events detected by the applications included in the "Ansible" SyncPack:

  • "Ansible-Command"
  • "Ansible-Tower"

To enable the event policies:

  1. In SL1, go to the Event Policies page (Events > Event Policies).
  2. Click the check boxes for the "Ansible-Command" and "Ansible-Tower" event policies. A row of buttons appear at the top of the list.
  3. Click Enable. The Status for both policies is updated to "Enabled".

Creating a SOAP/XML Credential to Access PowerFlow

You will need to create a SOAP/XML credential so that the action policies included in the "Ansible Automation" PowerPack can access your PowerFlow system.

To create a SOAP/XML credential:

  1. In SL1, go to the Credentials page (Manage > Credentials).
  2. Click Create New and select Create SOAP/XML Credential. The Create Credential window appears.
  3. Complete the following fields:
  • Name. Type a new name for the credential.
  • All Organizations. Toggle on (blue) to align the credential to all organizations, or toggle off (gray) and then select one or more specific organizations from the What organization manages this service? drop-down field to align the credential with those specific organizations.
  • URL. Type the URL for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth User. Type the username for your PowerFlow system.
  • HTTP Auth Password. Type the password for your PowerFlow system.
  1. Click Save & Close.
  2. Take note of the SL1-assigned ID number for the new credential on the Credentials page, in the ID column. You will need the ID number when editing the input parameters of the run book actions included in the PowerPack, below.

Editing the Ansible Run Book Actions

The "Ansible Automation" PowerPack includes the following run book action policies:

  • Ansible: Command (triggers the "Call Playbook from Ansible CLI" application in PowerFlow)
  • Ansible: Tower (triggers the "Call Playbook from Ansible Tower" application in PowerFlow)

These action policies use the "Run Integration Service Application" action type to trigger the corresponding PowerFlow application that collects data from Ansible. You can specify the credential ID in a JSON structure that you enter in the Input Parameters field in the Action Policy Editor modal.

To edit the run book actions included in the PowerPack:

  1. In SL1, go to the Actions page (Registry > Run Book > Actions).
  2. Locate the action policy that you want to use ("Ansible: Command" or "Ansible: Tower"), and then click its wrench icon (). The Editing Action page appears.
  1. In the Input Parameters field, change the values of the following parameters:
  • credential_id. Change the value to the credential ID that you noted earlier when creating a credential for your PowerFlow system in the previous procedure. This parameter is required.
  • include_event. Leave the value as "true".
  • application_name. Leave the default application value.
  • params. Leave the default parameter value.
  1. Make sure the Action State is set to Enabled, and then click Save.

Enabling the Ansible Run Book Automations

The "Ansible Automation" PowerPack includes the following run book automation policies that you will need to enable, depending on which Ansible application you are monitoring:

  • "Ansible:Command"
  • "Ansible:Tower"

These policies update the SL1 event with the state of the associated Ansible Command or Ansible Tower.

To enable the run book automations:

  1. In SL1, go to the Automation page (Registry > Run Book > Automation).
  2. Locate the "Ansible:Command" run book automation policy and click its wrench icon (). The Automation Policy Editor page appears.
  3. Update the following fields:
  • Policy State. Select Enabled.
  • Policy Priority. Select High to ensure that this PowerFlow automation policy is added to the top of the queue.
  • Available Actions. If it is not already selected, select the "Run Integration Service Application: <name>" action that corresponds with the Ansible automation policy you selected in step 2, and click the arrows to move it to Aligned Actions.

ScienceLogic highly recommends that you do not make changes to the Policy Type, Repeat Time, or Align With fields or the And event is NOT acknowledged setting.

  1. Click Save.
  2. Repeat steps 2-4 for the "Ansible:Tower" run book automation policy.

Configuring PowerFlow

The following topics cover how to set up your PowerFlow instance to work with the "Ansible" SyncPack.

Creating a Configuration Object

A configuration object supplies the login credentials and other required information needed to execute the steps for a PowerFlow application. The Configurations page () of the PowerFlow user interface lists all available configuration objects for that system.

You can create as many configuration objects as you need. A PowerFlow application can only use one configuration object at a time, but you can use (or "align") the same configuration object with multiple applications.

For this SyncPack, you should make a copy of the "Sample Ansible Configuration" configuration object, which is the sample configuration file that was installed with the "Ansible" SyncPack.

The "Sample Ansible Configuration" configuration object contains all of the required variables. Simply update the variables from that object to match your SL1 and Ansible settings.

To create a configuration object based on the "Sample Ansible Configuration" configuration object:

  1. In the PowerFlow user interface, go to the Configurations page ().
  2. Click the Actions button () for the "Sample Ansible Configuration" configuration object and select Edit. The Configuration pane appears.
  1. Click Copy as. The Create Configuration pane appears.
  2. Complete the following fields:
    • Friendly Name. Type a name for the configuration object that will display on the Configurations page.
    • Description. Type a brief description of the configuration object.
    • Author. Type the user or organization that created the configuration object.
    • Version. Type a version of the configuration object.
  1. In the Configuration Data field, update the default variable definitions to match your PowerFlow configuration:
    • sl1_host. Type the hostname or IP address of the SL1 system the alerts will synchronize with.
    • sl1_password. Type the password for your SL1 system.
    • sl1_user. Type the username for your SL1 system.
    • ansible_url. Enter the URL for your Ansible system.
    • ansible_username. Type the username for your Ansible system.
    • ansible_password. Type the password for your Ansible system.
    • template_id. Type the Ansible Tower template ID. This field is only required if you are monitoring an Ansible Tower.
    • host_name. Type the host name for your Ansible system.
    • playbook. Type the name of your Ansible playbook.
    • inventory_id. Type the Ansible Tower inventory ID. This field is only required if you are monitoring an Ansible Tower.
    • credential_id. Type the Ansible Tower credential ID. This field is only required if you are monitoring an Ansible Tower.
    • ssh_username. Type your SSH username.
    • ssh_password. Type your SSH password.
    • host_name_status. Toggle on (blue) to enter the host name status from the event details.
    • ssh_pem_status. Toggle on (blue) to enter the SSH status from the event details.
    • ssh_pem. Enter the RSA key for SSH connection and type "\n" before and after your RSA key.
    • ssh_host. Type your SSH host name.
    • add_template. Toggle the JSON editor to define a message for the description field in the SL1 event.
  1. Click Save. You can now align this configuration object with one or more applications.

For more information about the Ansible terms and concepts in this section, see the Ansible documentation.

Aligning a Configuration Object and Configuring PowerFlow Applications

In PowerFlow, you will need to align the "Ansible" SyncPack applications with the relevant configuration object, and, if needed, update any other fields on the Configuration pane for the applications.

To align the configuration object with the relevant PowerFlow applications:

  1. On the Applications page of the PowerFlow user interface, open one of the Ansible PowerFlow applications and click Configure. The Configurations pane for that application appears.
  1. From the Configurations drop-down, select the configuration object you want to use.

    The values for sl1_hostname and the other parameters that appear in the Configuration pane with a padlock icon () are populated by the configuration object you aligned with the application. Do not modify these values. If you encounter an error, make sure your configuration object is configured properly.

  1. Update any of the remaining fields on the Configurations pane as needed.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Repeat this process for the other PowerFlow applications.

Scheduling PowerFlow Applications

If you want to use the following PowerFlow applications, you must schedule them. ScienceLogic recommends that you schedule the following PowerFlow applications:

  • "Ansible Tower Job Status Update": Every five minutes
  • "Clear SL1 Events": Every 10 minutes

You can create one or more schedules for a single application in the PowerFlow user interface. When creating each schedule, you can specify the queue and the configuration file for that application.

To create a schedule:

  1. On the Applications page (), click the Schedule button for the application you want to schedule. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. In the Schedule List pane, click the down arrow icon () next to an existing schedule to view the details for that schedule.
  3. In the Schedule Creator pane, complete the following fields for the default Frequency setting:
  • Schedule Name. Type a name for the schedule.
  • Frequency in seconds. Type the number of seconds per interval that you want to run the application.
  • Custom Parameters. Type any JSON parameters you want to use for this schedule, such as information about a configuration file or mappings.
  1. To use a cron expression, click the Switch to Cron Expression toggle to turn it blue. If you select this option, you can create complicated schedules based on minutes, hours, the day of the month, the month, and the day of the week:

As you update the cron expression, the Schedule window displays the results of the expression in more readable language, such as Runs app: "Every 0 and 30th minute past every hour on Sat", based on 0,30 in the Minutes field and 6 in the Day of Week field.

  1. Click Save Schedule. The schedule is added to the Schedule List pane. Also, on the Applications page, the Schedule button now displays with a dark blue background:

After you create a schedule, it continues to run until you delete it. Also, you cannot edit an existing schedule, but you can delete it and create a similar schedule if needed.

To view or delete an existing schedule:

  1. On the Applications page, click the Schedule button for the application that contains a schedule you want to delete. The Scheduler window appears.
  2. Click the down arrow icon () to view the details of an existing schedule.
  3. To delete the selected schedule, click the Actions icon () and selectDelete.

On the Scheduler window for a PowerFlow application, you can click the Copy as button from the Schedule List pane to make a copy of an existing schedule.

When either multiple SL1 instances or multiple Ansible instances are involved with PowerFlow, you should create an individual configuration object for each SL1 or Ansible instance. Next, create an individual schedule for each configuration object. Each schedule should use a configuration object that is specific to that single SL1 or Ansible instance. Creating copies of a PowerFlow application from a SyncPack for the purpose of distinguishing between domains is not supported, and will result in issues on upgrades.