Add-on product: Lifecycle Manager extends Itential Platform with stateful orchestration capabilities. It requires Itential Platform as a prerequisite. View platform overview
Create and manage resources that represent infrastructure entities in your environment.
What are resources?
Resources in Lifecycle Manager represent any infrastructure entity that Itential Platform can manage: network devices, cloud instances, code repositories, or services.
From the Resources view, you can:
- Define resource models using JSON Schema
- Create instances of resources
- Build and execute actions against instances
- Edit resource metadata
Before you begin
Before creating resources, review:
Create a resource
To create a new resource:
1Open the create dialog
Click Create Resource + on the Lifecycle Manager home page
2Enter resource details
Provide a name and optional description
3Save the resource
Click Create to open the resource in a new view
Open an existing resource
To open a resource:
1Expand the resources menu
Click Resources in the side navigation menu
2Select a resource
Click the resource name from the expanded list
Tip: Use the search bar at the top of the accordion menu to filter resources by name. Alternatively, click the Search icon in the toolbar to use the Collections view.
Understand resource tabs
The Resource view organizes functions across four tabs:
Click tab names at the top of the view to navigate between them.
Define resource models
Resource models specify which properties instances can have. Define models using JSON Schema on the Model tab.
Model tab elements
Model syntax
New resources include this template:
Add properties as keys in the properties object. Add required properties to the required array.
Example: Define a switch model
To create a resource model for network switches:
1Identify required properties
Decide which properties instances should have:
hostname (required string)ipv4 (required IPv4 address string)vendor (optional string)
2Add properties to the model
3Specify required properties
4Save the model
Click Save to apply changes
Complete model:
Create instances
Instances represent individual occurrences of a resource. For example, each switch in your network would be a separate instance.
Instances tab elements
Example: Create a switch instance
To create an instance:
1Open the instance dialog
Click + New Instance on the Instances tab
3Save the instance
Click Save to add the instance to the table
Import and export instances
Import instances
To import instances from JSON files:
1Open the import dialog
Click the Import icon on the Instances tab
2Select files
Browse and select one or more JSON files
3Import instances
Click Import to validate and add instances
Import requirements:
- Instance data must conform to the resource model schema
- Instance names must be unique within the resource
Successfully imported instances show “Import” in the Last Action column and History tab.
Export instances
Export multiple instances:
1Select instances
Check rows in the instance table
2Export selection
Click the Export icon in the toolbar
Downloaded file name: {resource-name}_exportedInstances.json
Export single instance:
Choose one method:
- Click the vertical dot menu in the instance table row
- Click Export in the instance properties side panel
- Click Export on the Edit Instance Details page
Downloaded file name: {instance-name}.json
Exported files exclude the _id, modelId, and actionHistory fields.
Create actions
Actions use workflows to manage instance properties. For example, an action could update a virtual machine’s power state and record the change.
Actions tab elements
Action types
How actions work
Actions follow this workflow pattern:
Update and delete actions:
1Receive instance data
Lifecycle Manager sends current properties in the instance job variable
2Process in workflow
Workflow tasks read instance, make changes, and output to instance
3Apply changes
Lifecycle Manager updates the instance with returned values
Create actions:
Create actions don’t receive instance as input (the instance doesn’t exist yet). If a workflow is attached, it must create and output the instance variable according to the resource model.
Transformations:
- Pre-transformation: Receives
instance and user inputs, outputs job variables to workflow
- Post-transformation: Receives
workflowOutputs and original instance, outputs updated instance
When no workflow is attached, users edit instance properties directly. This is the only case where direct editing is allowed.
Example: Update switch IP address
To create an update action:
1Create the action
- Click + New Action
- Enter a name (for example, “change_ipv4”)
- Select Update from Action Type
- Click Save
2Add a workflow
- Click + Workflow
- Select + Create New to open Studio
3Design the workflow
- Add tasks that receive the
instance job variable
- Update the
ipv4 property
- Output changes to the
instance job variable
- Save the workflow
4Run the action
- Navigate to the Instances tab
- Select an instance
- Click Run ► for the new action in the Actions panel
- Verify completion and check the Properties tab
Organize instances with groups
Instance groups let you execute actions against multiple instances simultaneously.
Instance Groups tab elements
Group types
Example: Create and use a group
To create a dynamic group:
1Open the group dialog
Click + New Instance Group on the Instance Groups tab
3Save the group
Click Save to create the group
To run an action against a group:
1Open the group
Select the group from the instance group table
2Select an action
Navigate to the Actions tab in the side panel
3Run the action
- Click Run ► for the desired action
- Enter required properties in the JSON editor
- Click Run ► to execute
To modify resource metadata:
2Update fields
Edit name, description, or other metadata
Next steps
