Send commands and configurations to devices via workflows

Use sendCommand and sendConfig to perform batch command and configuration operations across multiple inventory devices in your workflows.

Overview

Inventory Manager provides built-in gateway services designed specifically for workflow automation in Studio. These services enable you to execute commands and apply configuration changes across multiple devices simultaneously with optimized inputs and outputs for workflow use.

Available services:

sendCommand: Sends commands to multiple inventory nodes
sendConfig: Sends configuration to multiple inventory nodes

These services appear in the GatewayManager task palette collection in Studio.

Why use workflow gateway services

sendCommand and sendConfig are purpose-built for workflow automation and provide several advantages:

Batch operation support: Execute operations across multiple devices in a single workflow task
Workflow-optimized inputs and outputs: Simplified, user-friendly parameters designed for workflow use
Inventory Manager support: Automatically leverage inventory data and device attributes
Better performance: Optimized for workflow execution patterns

If you previously used AutomationGateway adapter tasks (isAlive, runCommand, getConfig, setConfig) in your workflows, these services replace that functionality. The AutomationGateway adapter tasks were designed for internal Itential application use, while sendCommand and sendConfig are designed specifically for workflows. See Migrate inventory from IAG 4 for migration guidance.

For Configuration Manager and command template operations, IAG uses built-in broker services through Device Broker support. See Device Broker support for details.

Task mapping from IAG 4

If you’re migrating workflows from IAG 4, use this mapping to update your workflow tasks:

IAG 4 task	Description	Inventory Manager task	Notes
`AutomationGateway.isAlive`	Verifies device is reachable	`GatewayManager.sendCommand`	Use sendCommand with an appropriate command (e.g., `show version`) to verify device accessibility
`AutomationGateway.runCommand`	Executes CLI command on device	`GatewayManager.sendCommand`	Direct replacement with updated input structure
`AutomationGateway.getConfig`	Retrieves running or startup configuration	`GatewayManager.sendCommand`	Use sendCommand with an appropriate show command (e.g., `show running-config`)
`AutomationGateway.setConfig`	Applies configuration change to device	`GatewayManager.sendConfig`	Direct replacement with updated input structure

Before you begin

Ensure you have:

Inventory Manager installed and configured
Inventories created with devices/nodes configured
Inventory nodes with required connection attributes
Network connectivity from IAG to target devices
Valid device credentials configured

Inventory requirements

sendCommand and sendConfig services require inventory nodes with specific connection attributes to communicate with network devices.

Required attributes

itential_host: Device IP address or hostname
itential_user: SSH username
itential_password: SSH password
itential_platform: Device platform/OS type (e.g., cisco_ios, arista_eos)
itential_driver: Connection driver (netmiko or scrapli)

Optional attributes

itential_port: SSH port (default: 22)
itential_become: Enter privileged mode (default: false)
itential_become_password: Password for privilege escalation
itential_driver_options: Advanced driver configuration

For complete details on configuring inventory nodes with these attributes, see Create and populate inventories.

For advanced driver configuration and performance tuning, see Configure driver options.

Send commands to multiple devices (sendCommand)

Sends commands to inventory nodes through a gateway service. Use this service to execute the same commands across multiple devices in a single workflow operation.

To use this service as a task in your workflows, use the sendCommand task from the GatewayManager task palette collection in Studio.

Input parameters

Cluster ID (string, required)

The ID of the gateway cluster that should connect to the inventory nodes
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable

Example: inv_cluster_runner_237

Commands (array, required)

Array of command strings to send to the inventory nodes
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable

Example:

1 ["show run", "show version"]

Inventory (array, required)

Array of objects specifying which inventory nodes to target
Each object contains:
- inventory (string) - The name of the inventory containing the target nodes
- nodeNames (array, optional) - Array of node names within the inventory to target. If not provided, the operation runs on all nodes in the inventory.
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable

Example:

1 [
2   {
3     "inventory": "production-routers",
4     "nodeNames": [
5       "core1",
6       "core2"
7     ]
8   }
9 ]

Outputs

Result (object)

Command results returned from the service
You can store the output as a job variable for use in subsequent workflow tasks

Error (any)

Error information if the operation fails
You can store the output as a job variable for error handling

Send configuration to multiple devices (sendConfig)

Sends configuration to inventory nodes through a gateway service. Use this service to apply the same configuration changes across multiple devices in a single workflow operation.

To use this service as a task in your workflows, use the sendConfig task from the GatewayManager task palette collection in Studio.

Input parameters

Cluster ID (string, required)

The ID of the gateway cluster that should connect to the inventory nodes
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable

Example: inv_cluster_runner_237

Config (string, required)

The configuration text to send to the remote hosts using the devices’ native syntax
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable
Supports multi-line configuration blocks

Example:

interface Loopback100
 description Management Loopback
 ip address 10.255.0.1 255.255.255.255

Inventory (array, required)

Array of objects specifying which inventory nodes to target
Each object contains:
- inventory (string) - The name of the inventory containing the target nodes
- nodeNames (array, optional) - Array of node names within the inventory to target. If not provided, the operation runs on all nodes in the inventory.
You can provide this as a static value or reference a job variable

Example:

1 [
2   {
3     "inventory": "production-routers",
4     "nodeNames": [
5       "core1",
6       "core2"
7     ]
8   }
9 ]

Outputs

Result (object)

Configuration results returned from the service
You can store the output as a job variable for use in subsequent workflow tasks

Error (any)

Error information if the operation fails
You can store the output as a job variable for error handling

Learn more

Device Broker support - Learn how built-in broker services support Configuration Manager and command templates
Migrate inventory from IAG 4 - Guidance for refactoring workflows from IAG 4 to Inventory Manager
Create and populate inventories - Configure inventory nodes with required connection attributes
Configure driver options - Advanced driver configuration and performance tuning