Adding lifecycle rules for entities

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Use these instructions to define lifecycle rules for entities.

Before you begin

Only system administrators can perform this task.

About this task

Lifecycle rules trigger operations that are defined in the Manage Operations task. Depending on the type of lifecycle rule, the corresponding operations defined at the level are available.

Lifecycle rules are different from operations. The lifecycle rule that is defined at entity type or entity level does not override the lifecycle rule defined at a higher level. Each level has valid lifecycle events that can run independently based on the schedule that is defined.

To add a lifecycle rule for an entity type, complete these steps:

Procedure

  1. From the navigation tree, click Configure System > Manage Life Cycle Rules.
    The Manage Life Cycle Rules page is displayed.
  2. On the Manage Life Cycle Rules page, select one of the following lifecycle rule levels:
    • Select Global level to define a lifecycle rule that has no entity context.
    • Select Entity type level to define a lifecycle rule that is applicable to the entity type. Select an entity type from the Entity Type list.
    • Select Entity level to define a lifecycle rule that is applicable to a specific entity instance type. Select an entity type from the Entity Type list, and then select an entity from the Entity list.
  3. Click Add.
    The Manage Life Cycle Rules notebook is displayed.
  4. On the General page of the Manage Life Cycle Rules notebook, complete these steps:
    1. In the Name field, type a unique name for the lifecycle rule that you want to define for the corresponding system entity.
    2. Optional: In the Description field, type a description for the lifecycle rule.
    3. From the Operation list, select an operation to be invoked when the event occurs.
      Only operations without input parameters are allowed to be run by the lifecycle rule.
    4. Click the Event tab.
  5. On the Event page of the Manage Life Cycle Rules notebook, complete these steps:
    1. In the Search filter field, type an LDAP filter that identifies the objects that are affected by the event.
      For example, the following filter captures all active employees who did not change their passwords in the past 90 days. The capture is calculated from the date that the lifecycle event occurs: (&(employeeType=active)(erPswdLastChanged<=${system.date - 90}))
      Note: The Search filter is not applicable to global level lifecycle rules because global level lifecycle rules do not have entity context.
    2. Click Add to define a schedule for the lifecycle rule.
      The Define Schedule page is displayed.
  6. On the Define Schedule page, define a schedule for the lifecycle rule to run, and then click OK.
    The fields displayed depend on the scheduling option that is selected.
    The new schedule is displayed on the Event page of the Manage Life Cycle Rules notebook.
  7. Click OK to save the lifecycle rule and close the notebook.

Results

A message is displayed, indicating that you successfully created a lifecycle rule for the entity. Click Close.

What to do next

When the Manage Life Cycle Rules page is displayed, click Refresh to refresh the Life Cycle Rules table and display the new lifecycle rule.