Use pre-builts in Platform 6

All pre-builts in the Itential Open Source pre-built-automations GitLab group are deprecated and certified only through Platform 2023.2. Itential recommends migrating your asset bundling and promotion workflows to projects. For details, see Pre-Builts Deprecation.

Pre-builts that were installed on your instance before upgrading to Platform 6 remain installed and continue to function. This guide is for users who need to install new pre-builts on a Platform 6 instance.

The installation method available to you depends on your deployment type:

• On-premises customers can install pre-builts by connecting the Pre-Builts Catalog to a Git repository (Option 1) or by manually importing a pre-built artifact file (Option 2).
• Cloud customers cannot install pre-builts directly from the Pre-Builts Catalog. To install a new pre-built, you must manually import a pre-built artifact file.

On-premises deployments

Option 1: Connect the Pre-Builts Catalog to Git

Use this option to browse and install pre-builts from a Git repository through the Pre-Builts Catalog in Admin Essentials.

Prerequisites

• Access to the Platform 6 Admin Essentials application
• Access to the Platform server's configuration file (platform.properties or legacy iap.properties)
• Ability to restart the Platform server

Step 1: Create a profile in Admin Essentials

1. In Admin Essentials, expand Profiles in the left navigation panel.
2. Click the Create (+) button to open the Create dialog.
3. From the What would you like to create? dropdown, select Profile.
4. Enter a Name for the profile (for example, my_profile).
5. Enter a Description (for example, Profile to configure repository for Pre-Builts).
6. Click Save.

After saving, you are redirected to the Profile configuration page. The profile displays a list of services and profile properties.

Step 2: Set the profile as active in the configuration file

Setting the profile as active through the Admin Essentials UI is not supported when using the local configuration file or environment variables. Instead, update your configuration file directly.

1. Open your Platform configuration file. Depending on your deployment, this may be a platform.properties file (for example, /etc/itential/platform.properties) or a legacy iap.properties file in your Platform installation directory.

2. Locate the profile_id property. If it is commented out (prefixed with #), remove the # to uncomment it.

3. Set the value to the name of the profile you created:

   profile_id=my_profile
   

4. Save the file.

Step 3: Restart the Platform server

After updating the configuration file, restart the Platform server for the changes to take effect.

1. Stop the Platform server (for example, Ctrl+C in the terminal running the server).
2. Start the server again using the appropriate startup command (for example, iap-start master --quick).
3. Wait for the server to fully start and all services to load.

After the server restarts, navigate to Admin Essentials > Profiles and confirm that your profile is now marked as the Active Profile.

Step 4: Configure the Pre-Builts repository

1. In Admin Essentials, expand Repositories in the left navigation panel.

2. If a repository configuration for @itentialopensource does not already exist, click the Create (+) button and select Repository Configuration.

3. Configure the repository with the following settings:

   Field	Value
   Connected	Enabled (toggled on)
   Name	@itentialopensource
   Type	GitLab
   Host	gitlab.com
   Path	itentialopensource/prebuilt-automations

4. Enable the Show Prebuilts on older releases toggle. Because pre-builts are only certified through Platform 2023.2, this toggle is required to display them in the catalog on Platform 6.

5. Click Save.

Step 5: Browse and install pre-builts

1. After saving the repository configuration, navigate to the Pre-Builts Catalog. You can access the catalog from the repository configuration page or from Pre-builts in the left navigation.
2. Use the search bar to filter pre-builts by name (for example, cisco-ios, netbox).
3. Select a pre-built from the list to view its details in the preview panel, including the overview and description, included workflows, external dependencies, and required adapters.
4. Click Install to install the pre-built.
5. If prompted with an Overwrite Files On System warning, review the list of components that will be overwritten, then click Install to confirm.

After installation, the pre-built's workflows, transformations, and other components are available in the Platform. You can view installed workflows in Automation Studio.

Option 2: Import a pre-built artifact file

If you prefer not to connect to a Git repository, you can manually import a pre-built using its artifact file.

1. Download the artifact.json file from the pre-built's Git repository. This file is a required part of every pre-built's repository file structure.
2. Import the file using Admin Essentials.

For the complete procedure, see Installing Pre-Builts Manually.

Cloud customers on Platform 6

Cloud customers upgraded from 2023.2 to Platform 6 retain all pre-builts that were installed before the upgrade. You can view the Pre-Builts Catalog in Platform 6, but you cannot install pre-builts directly from it.

To install a new pre-built, import the artifact file manually:

1. Download the artifact.json file associated with the pre-built.
2. Import the file using Admin Essentials.

For the complete procedure, see Installing Pre-Builts Manually.

Contact your Customer Success Manager or the Product Support Team for assistance.