Introduction to the Datacenter Automation Utilities PowerPack

The "Datacenter Automation Utilities" PowerPack includes run book automation and action policies that collect diagnostic information when events occur and assist with general-purpose activities for other "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment" and "Automation Policies" PowerPacks.

This PowerPack also provides various enrichment utilities that validate network connectivity from SL1 to a target device, and a run book action template that you can use to make network requests (GET/POST) from SL1.

You can use this PowerPack to provide enriched events for network connectivity issues for all devices by enabling the actions in this pack. Once enabled, all poller-related events will be enriched with the actions in this pack.

Starting with version 202 of this PowerPack, the vendor-specific run book actions that were in the now-deprecated "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment Actions" PowerPack were moved to the corresponding "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment" or "Automation Policies" PowerPacks. The three "Enrichment: Util" actions were moved to this PowerPack.

What is the Datacenter Automation Utilities PowerPack?

The "Datacenter Automation Utilities" PowerPack supplies a set of policies that assist with managing other "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment" and "Automation" PowerPacks installed on your SL1 system.

This PowerPack includes the following run book actions, which used to be included in the now-deprecated "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment Actions" PowerPack:

Enrichment: Util: Collect Enrichment Data. Executes the list of commands provided by the previous action and sends the output to the next run book action in the sequence of actions.
Enrichment: Util: Format Command Output as HTML. Formats the output of the "Enrichment: Util: Collect Enrichment Data" run book action in HTML format.
Enrichment: Util: Load Work Instructions. If the library of work instructions included with the PowerPack contains a set of instructions for the event policy that triggered the event, the run book action will output that set of work instructions.

For more information about how to use the "Enrichment: Util" run book actions with a run book automation, see Creating and Customizing Run Book Automation Policies.

This PowerPack also includes event policies, device groups, run book actions, run book automation policies, and action types from the following PowerPacks:

Network Connectivity Automations PowerPack. Enriches SL1 network connectivity events, such as availability and latency issues, by automatically running common network diagnostic commands and adding the output to the SL1 event log or an associated incident. This PowerPack includes custom run book action types for running ping, traceroute, nslookup, and nmap commands with parameters that you specify. For more information, see Configuring Network Connectivity Automations.
Network Connectivity User-Initiated Automations PowerPack. Contains automation policies that you can use to run common network diagnostic commands from the SL1Events page using Event Tools. In addition to using the standard content, you can customize the automation policies, or you can create your own automation policies using any available automation actions. For more information, see Network Connectivity User-initiated Automation Policies.
HTTP Action Type PowerPack. Contains the "HTTP Action Template" run book action template that you can use to create custom automation actions that perform HTTP requests. The PowerPack also includes action types that are used by the run book action. For more information, see Configuring Network Request Run Book Actions.

Upgrading from a Previous Version of the PowerPack

If you have a previous version of the "Datacenter Automation Utilities" PowerPack, you will need to execute the following SQL on your SL1 system to ensure a seamless transition to this release. These queries ensure any applicable run book actions, automation policies, and other content on the SL1 system from the previous versions of the "Network Connectivity" and "HTTP Action Type" PowerPacks can receive updates from the upgrade to this release of this PowerPack.

If you are upgrading from version 200 or 201 of this PowerPack, you can skip this step.

To upgrade from a previous release of the "Datacenter Automation Utilities" PowerPack:

In SL1, got to the Database Tool page (System > Tools > DB Tool).
Execute the following queries, one at a time:

UPDATE 'master'.'automation_action_types' SET 'ppguid' = 'B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F' WHERE 'ppguid' IN ('2BF43CA3E82A767F2B14756B64D6E2AE', '1034B560B0D0DFDE390C248396F2A301');

UPDATE 'master'.'automation_action_types' SET 'ppguid' = 'B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F' WHERE 'guid' IN ('EFE2255897C1700DE6601F6CB7892C9D');

UPDATE 'master'.'policies_actions' SET 'ppguid' = 'B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F' WHERE 'ppguid' IN ('2BF43CA3E82A767F2B14756B64D6E2AE', '1034B560B0D0DFDE390C248396F2A301');

UPDATE 'master'.'policies_automation' SET 'ppguid' = 'B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F' WHERE 'ppguid' IN ('2BF43CA3E82A767F2B14756B64D6E2AE', '1034B560B0D0DFDE390C248396F2A301');

UPDATE 'master_dev'.'device_groups' SET 'ppguid' = 'B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F' WHERE 'ppguid' IN ('2BF43CA3E82A767F2B14756B64D6E2AE', '1034B560B0D0DFDE390C248396F2A301');

Also, if you were using a version of the now-deprecated "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment Actions" PowerPack on your SL1 system, you will need to run two additional queries.

To upgrade from the "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment Actions" PowerPack:

In SL1, go to the Database Tool page (System > Tools > DB Tool).
Execute the following queries, one at a time:

UPDATE master.dynamic_app SET ppguid ="B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F" WHERE app_guid IN ("9E65983E6129D5B352197D171A66BB4E");

UPDATE master.policies_actions SET ppguid ="B93FB6E9C2E5C7BC8C99A55E4DDD673F" WHERE action_guid IN ("7447456C1A06B17E845DFA12DDE06C97", "8CFB38D8D133F29F0DF67BB6ED3789AC", "D757533AD358FAE5272DABD873238360");

Installing the Datacenter Automation Utilities PowerPack

If you are using this PowerPack with any of the latest "Datacenter Advanced Enrichment" or "Automation Policies" PowerPacks, you will need to install version 202 or later of this PowerPack first, before installing the other PowerPacks.

By default, installing a new version of a PowerPack overwrites all content from a previous version of that PowerPack that has already been installed on the target system. You can use the Enable Selective PowerPack Field Protection setting in the Behavior Settings page (System > Settings > Behavior) to prevent new PowerPacks from overwriting local changes for some commonly customized fields. For more information, see the section on Global Settings.

For details on upgrading SL1, see the relevant SL1 Platform Release Notes.

To download and install the PowerPack:

Search for and download the PowerPack from the PowerPacks page (Product Downloads > PowerPacks & SyncPacks) at the ScienceLogic Support Site.
In SL1, go to the PowerPacks page (System > Manage > PowerPacks).
Click the Actions button and choose Import PowerPack. The Import PowerPack dialog box appears.
Click [Browse] and navigate to the PowerPack file from step 1.
Select the PowerPack file and click Import. The PowerPack Installer modal displays a list of the PowerPack contents.
Click Install. The PowerPack is added to the PowerPacks page.

If you exit the PowerPack Installer modal without installing the imported PowerPack, the imported PowerPack will not appear in the PowerPacks page. However, the imported PowerPack will appear in the Imported PowerPacks modal. This page appears when you click the Actions menu and select Install PowerPack.