Create a workflow job template

To create a new workflow job template, complete the following steps:

About this task
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Important

If you set a limit to a workflow template, it is not passed down to the job template unless you check Prompt on launch for the limit. This can lead to playbook failures if the limit is mandatory for the playbook that you are running.

Procedure
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  1. From the navigation panel, select Automation Execution > Templates.
  2. On the Automation Templates page, select Create workflow job template from the Create template list.
  3. Enter the appropriate details in the following fields:
    Note

    If a field has the Prompt on launch checkbox selected, either launching the workflow template, or using the workflow template within another workflow template, you are prompted for the value for that field. Most prompted values override any values set in the job template. Exceptions are noted in the following table.
    Expand
    Field Options Prompt on Launch

    Name

    Enter a name for the job.

    N/A

    Description

    Enter an arbitrary description as appropriate (optional).

    N/A

    Organization

    Choose the organization to use with this template from the organizations available to the logged in user.

    N/A

    Inventory

    Optionally, select the inventory to use with this template from the inventories available to the logged in user.

    Yes

    Limit

    A host pattern to further constrain the list of hosts managed or affected by the playbook. You can separate many patterns by colons (:). As with core Ansible:

    • a:b means "in group a or b"
    • a:b:&c means "in a or b but must be in c"
    • a:!b means "in a, and definitely not in b"

    Yes

    If selected, even if a default value is supplied, you are prompted upon launch to select a limit.

    Source control branch

    Select a branch for the workflow. This branch is applied to all workflow job template nodes that prompt for a branch.

    Yes

    Labels
    • Optionally, supply labels that describe this workflow job template, such as dev or test. Use labels to group and filter workflow job templates and completed jobs in the display.
    • Labels are created when they are added to the workflow template. Labels are associated to a single Organization using the Project that is provided in the workflow template. Members of the Organization can create labels on a workflow template if they have edit permissions (such as the admin role).
    • Once you save the job template, the labels appear in the workflow job template Details view.
    • Labels are only applied to the workflow templates not the job template nodes that are used in the workflow.
    • Select Disassociate beside a label to remove it. When a label is removed, it is no longer associated with that particular Job or Job Template, but it remains associated with any other jobs that reference it.

    Yes

    If selected, even if a default value is supplied, you are prompted when launching to supply additional labels, if needed. - You cannot delete existing labels, selecting Disassociate only removes the newly added labels, not existing default labels.

    Job tags

    Type and select the Create drop-down to specify which parts of the playbook should run.

    Yes

    Skip tags

    Type and select the Create drop-down to specify certain tasks or parts of the playbook to skip.

    Yes

    Extra variables
    • Pass extra command line variables to the playbook.

    This is the "-e" or "-extra-vars" command line parameter for ansible-playbook that is documented in the Ansible documentation at Controlling how Ansible behaves: precedence rules. - Give key or value pairs by using either YAML or JSON. These variables have a maximum value of precedence and overrides other variables specified elsewhere. The following is an example value: git_branch: production release_version: 1.5

    Yes

    If you want to be able to specify extra_vars on a schedule, you must select Prompt on launch for Extra variables on the workflow job template, or enable a survey on the job template. Those answered survey questions become extra_vars. For more information about extra variables, see Extra Variables.
  4. Specify the following Options for launching this template, if necessary:
    • Check Enable webhook to turn on the ability to interface with a predefined SCM system web service that is used to launch a workflow job template. GitHub and GitLab are the supported SCM systems.
      • If you enable webhooks, other fields display, prompting for additional information:
        • Webhook service: Select which service to listen for webhooks from.
        • Webhook URL: Automatically populated with the URL for the webhook service to POST requests to.
        • Webhook key: Generated shared secret to be used by the webhook service to sign payloads sent to automation controller. You must configure this in the settings on the webhook service so that webhooks from this service are accepted in automation controller. For additional information about setting up webhooks, see Working with Webhooks.
    • Check Enable concurrent jobs to allow simultaneous runs of this workflow. For more information, see Automation controller capacity determination and job impact.
  5. When you have completed configuring the workflow template, click Create workflow job template.

    Saving the template exits the workflow template page and the workflow visualizer opens where you can build a workflow. For more information, see the Workflow visualizer section. Otherwise, select one of these methods:

    • Close the workflow visualizer to return to the Details tab of the newly saved template. There you can complete the following tasks:
      • Review, edit, add permissions, notifications, schedules, and surveys
      • View completed jobs
      • Build a workflow template
    • Click Launch template to start the workflow. Note

      Save the template before launching, or Launch template remains disabled. The Notifications tab is only present after you save the template.

Work with permissions
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You can manage permissions for workflow templates to control which users and teams can view or modify them.

Click the Team Access or User Access tab to review, grand, edit, and remove associated permissions for users along with team members.

Click Add roles to create new permissions for this workflow template by following the prompts to assign them.

Work with notifications
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From the navigation panel, select Automation Execution > Administration > Notifiers. You can review any notification integrations you have set up and their statuses, if they have run.

Use the toggles to enable or disable the notifications to use with your particular template. For more information, see Enable and disable notifications.

If no notifications have been set up, click Add notifier to create a new notification. For more information about configuring various notification types and extended messaging, see Notification types.

View completed workflow jobs
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You can view completed workflow jobs in automation controller to see the details of each job run.

The Jobs tab provides the list of job templates that have run. Click the expand Expandicon next to each job to view the details of each job.

From this view, you can click the job ID, name of the workflow job and see its graphical representation. The following example shows the job details of a workflow job:


Workflow template job ID

The nodes are marked with labels to help you identify them. For more information, see the legend in the Workflow visualizer section.

Launch a workflow job template
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You can launch a workflow job template to run a series of job templates and workflow nodes in a defined order.

Procedure
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Launch a workflow job template by using one of these methods:
  • From the navigation panel, select Automation Execution > Templates and click the Launch icon next to the job template.
  • Click Launch template in the Details tab of the workflow job template that you want to launch.

    Variables added for a workflow job template are automatically added in automation controller when launching, along with any extra variables set in the workflow job template and survey.

    Events related to approvals on workflows are displayed in the activity stream (Activity stream) with detailed information about the approval requests, if any.

Duplicate a workflow job template
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Duplicate a workflow job template to create a copy of its structure. Note that associated schedules, notifications, and permissions are not copied and must be manually recreated for the new template.

Procedure
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  1. From the navigation panel, select Automation Execution > Templates.
  2. Click the More options) icon associated with the template that you want to duplicate and select the Duplicate Template Duplicate template icon.
    • The new template with the name of the template from which you duplicated and a timestamp displays in the list of templates.
  3. Click to open the new template and click Edit template.
  4. Replace the contents of the Name field with a new name, and give or change the entries in the other fields to complete this page.
  5. Click Save job template.
    Note

    If a resource has a related resource that you do not have the right level of permission to, you cannot duplicate the resource. For example, in the case where a project uses a credential that a current user only has Read access. However, for a workflow job template, if any of its nodes use an unauthorized job template, inventory, or credential, the workflow template can still be duplicated. But in the duplicated workflow job template, the corresponding fields in the workflow template node are absent.