Triggers

Triggers enable you to run automations in four different ways. You can assign as many triggers as you like to an automation and have more than one of each type.

Trigger types

Workflows initiated by triggers will mention Operations Manager in the job description.

Create and edit triggers

You can edit existing triggers from the trigger card by clicking the trigger name at the top of a card.

Manual triggers

Manual triggers run the related automation only when invoked by you. A JSON Form may optionally be assigned to the trigger to provide runtime data to the underlying workflow.

Run automations from manual triggers

API endpoint triggers

API endpoint triggers run the automation whenever the configured endpoint receives an HTTP POST request. When a request is received:

1. The body of the HTTP POST request (represented as a JSON object) is validated against the POST body schema defined in the trigger.
2. If the body is validated, it is sent to an optional JST defined in the trigger.
3. After the JST is applied (if relevant), the keys and values of the request body are made available to the workflow and the automation runs.
4. The endpoint responds to the client with information about the workflow that was started.

Each API trigger requires a unique route name. Endpoint trigger URLs use the following format:

/operations-manager/triggers/endpoint/:routeName

POST body schema

The POST body schema is a JSON schema against which the body of the HTTP POST request is validated. If the request body is validated, the API trigger continues its preparations to run the automation. If the request body is not validated, the automation is not run.

The POST body schema uses the following syntax:

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{
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    "type": "object",
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    "properties": {},
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    "additionalProperties": true
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}

Example: Velocloud Edge Provisioning automation

The following example shows how to trigger a Velocloud Edge Provisioning automation using an API endpoint trigger.

Create the API endpoint trigger

Endpoint — Use the following endpoint to trigger the automation:

https://example.iap-prod.itential.io/operations-manager/triggers/endpoint/velocloud-edge-provisioning-v2

Authentication — Itential Platform uses a token for API calls, passed to the endpoint via the token query parameter. In on-premises environments, retrieve this token by calling the login endpoint. See the API documentation for reference. For SaaS customers with Itential Cloud environments, the token is provided by the Product Support Team.

https://example.iap-prod.itential.io/operations-manager/triggers/endpoint/velocloud-edge-provisioning-v2?token={{IAP-static-token}}

Payload body — The values in the payload body are used by the automation for edge provisioning in Velocloud:

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{
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    "iapPayload": {
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        "disableGe3InterfaceWanOverlay": true,
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        "vco": "vco109-usca1",
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        "enterpriseId": "935",
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        "configurationId": "12285",
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        "name": "sampleEdge",
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        "vpcCidr": "10.100.100.0/22",
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        "publicSubnetCidr": "10.100.101.0/24",
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        "privateSubnetCidr": "10.100.102.0/24",
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        "managementIp": "10.100.101.10/32",
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        "ge3Ip": "10.100.101.4/24",
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        "terraformPrivateIp": "10.100.102.4",
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        "availabilityZone": "us-west-2c",
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        "awsAccessKey": "EXAMPLE1A6DYSQ8LXGNV",
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        "awsSecretKey": "EXAMPLE+O0sVH22k6mwbHddceygaXAdx4St0k/KB"
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    }
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}

Postman call — An example of the API call in Postman:

Check automation status

To check the status of the automation (job), make a separate call to Itential Platform. When triggering automations via API, Itential Platform returns a 200 status code if the automation started successfully.

GET call — Use the following URL to check job status:

https://example.iap-prod.itential.io/operations-manager/jobs/{{job_id}}?token={{IAP-static-token}}&include=status

Response body — The job_id value can be found in the response body of the POST call (_id). The following example shows the response and where to find the job_id:

Response status — The response from the GET job status call should look like the following. The "status" field indicates whether the job is still running or complete:

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{
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    "message": "Successfully retrieved item",
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    "data": {
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        "_id": "847a683ac25a486e99f04fe3",
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        "status": "complete",
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        "metadata": {}
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    }
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}

Additional resource

For more information about API triggers, watch the Itential Learn video below.

Schedule triggers

Schedule triggers run the automation at some point in the future at an optional repeating frequency.

Event triggers

Event triggers run the automation whenever the configured event occurs. When an event occurs in Itential Platform:

1. The event system publishes an event object representing that event as a JSON object.
2. The payload key of the event object is validated against the payload schema filter defined in the event trigger.
3. If the payload passes validation, it is extracted from the event object and sent to an optional JST defined in the event trigger.
4. After the JST is applied (if relevant), the payload is made available to the workflow and the automation runs.

For more information, see Event system.

Payload schema filter

The payload schema filter is a JSON schema against which the payload key of an event object is validated. If the payload is validated, the event trigger continues its preparations to run the automation. If the payload is not validated, the automation is not run.

The payload schema filter uses the following syntax:

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{
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    "type": "object",
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    "properties": {},
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    "additionalProperties": true
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}

Trigger cards

You can manage triggers for an automation through a collection of trigger cards on the Automation Details page. Each trigger is represented by a card.

Trigger card actions

From a trigger card, you can:

• View information about a trigger (name, type, and description).
• Create a trigger.
• Enable or disable a trigger.
• Run, edit, or delete a trigger.

To enable or disable a trigger, click the toggle switch at the top-right corner of the trigger card:

• When the toggle switch is blue with a check mark (✓), the trigger is enabled.
• When the toggle switch is gray with an X, the trigger is disabled. A disabled trigger will not run its automation.

To run or delete a trigger, click the Run or Delete button at the bottom-right corner of the trigger card.