Creating an automation rule to trigger a workflow

After installing Concert workflows on an OCP cluster or virtual machine, and then defining the workflows in the Concert UI, you must set up an automation rule to trigger the Concert workflow based on certain conditions.

Note: Currently, the only supported workflow achieved using Concert workflows (or a separate IBM Rapid Network Automation instance) is automatic certificate renewal.

Before you begin

Refer to the following prerequisites if using an on-premises deployment of Concert on an OCP cluster or virtual machine:
  • You must have installed the Concert workflows add-on. Refer to Installing Concert Workflows for instructions.
  • You must have authorized connections with the relevant external tools or services supported by the Concert workflows add-on.
    Note: Connections supported by the Concert workflows add-on are different than the standard Concert integrations. The process for authorizing connections to use for Concert workflows is different than the process for authorizing connections with standard integrations for use in automation rules or data ingestion jobs.
  • You must create the Concert workflow you want to trigger with the automation rule.
Refer to the following prerequisites and notes if using a SaaS deployment of Concert:
  • You must have a IBM Rapid Network Automation instance.
  • You must establish a connection with the IBM Rapid Network Automation environment (called Concert workflows in the list of connections).
  • You must configure the workflows and necessary authentications within your IBM Rapid Network Automation instance. Refer to the Rapid Network Automation documentation for details.

Instructions

Follow these instructions to configure a Concert workflow in the Concert UI.

  1. Go to Administration > Integrations.
  2. Click Automation rules.
  3. Enter a name of the automation rule for internal reference.
  4. Under When this condition occurs, select Certificate expiry.
    Warning: Certificate expiry is the only supported workflow at this time. Selecting other triggering conditions will not work as expected.
  5. Under Then take this action, select Trigger a workflow.
  6. Under Using this connection, select the connected Concert workflows environment. Refer to Establishing a connection with an external system for instructions.
  7. Enter the Workflow reference. This is the Concert workflows API request URL path, such as cert/renew/batch.
  8. Enter the Service authentication, which is the name of the authorization credentials created in Concert workflows to access the kubeadm cluster. Typically, this follows the pattern, admin/<name>.
  9. Under With the following threshold values, adjust the settings as desired. When setting up a workflow to address expiring certificates, the threshold value indicates the expiration status or time to expiration at which the workflow will be triggered.
  10. Click Create.

Once configured, an automation rule will trigger upon the next expiring certificate that meets the conditions defined. As a next step, configure an ingestion job to pull data into Concert from Concert workflows (IBM Rapid Network Automation).