Microsoft System Center Designing Orchestrator Runbooks

Table of contents

1. Cover Page
2. Copyright Page
3. Contents
4. Introduction
5. Chapter 1 Introducing System Center 2012
   1. System Center Virtual Machine Manager
   2. System Center Operations Manager
   3. System Center Service Manager
   4. System Center Data Protection Manager
   5. System Center Configuration Manager
   6. System Center Orchestrator
6. Chapter 2 System Center Orchestrator
   1. Runbook Designer
      1. Connections and runbook hierarchy
      2. Menu and command bar
      3. Runbook design surface
      4. Activity list
      5. Logging
   2. Integration packs
   3. Runbook Tester
   4. Orchestration console
   5. Orchestrator Integration Toolkit
7. Chapter 3 Orchestrator architecture and deployment
   1. Architecture
      1. System architecture
         1. Runbook
         2. Management server
         3. Runbook server
         4. Orchestrator database
         5. Runbook Designer
         6. Runbook Tester
         7. Orchestration console
         8. Orchestrator web service
         9. Deployment Manager
      2. Data bus
      3. Architectural diagram
   2. High availability considerations
      1. Management server
      2. Orchestration database
      3. Orchestrator web service
      4. Orchestration console
      5. Runbook servers
      6. Runbooks
   3. Orchestrator 2012 architecture patterns
      1. Single-server Orchestrator 2012 infrastructure
      2. High availability Orchestrator 2012 infrastructure
         1. Orchestration database
         2. Runbook servers
         3. Orchestrator web service
      3. High availability and multisite Orchestrator 2012 infrastructure
8. Chapter 4 Modular runbook design and development
   1. What is a runbook?
   2. Creating runbooks
      1. Runbook Designer
      2. Runbook properties
      3. Runbook permissions
      4. Using runbook activities
         1. Standard activities
         2. Monitoring activities
         3. Customized activities
         4. Common activity properties
      5. Controlling runbook workflow execution
         1. Starting point
         2. Links
         3. Loops
         4. Invokes
         5. Orchestrator data bus
         6. Return data activities
      6. Extend functionality with integration packs
         1. Microsoft-provided integration packs
         2. Third-party integration packs
         3. Community-developed integration packs
   3. Modular runbook design
      1. Modular management architecture
         1. Automation layer
         2. Management layer
         3. Orchestration layer
      2. Runbook design fundamentals
         1. Error handling
         2. Logging
         3. Runbook activity pattern
      3. Modular runbook architecture
         1. Component runbooks
         2. Control runbooks
         3. Initiation Runbooks
   4. Developing a systematic approach to IT process automation
      1. Runbook requirements gathering
      2. Process mapping and optimization
      3. Documenting runbook functional specifications
      4. Runbook authoring and development
      5. Runbook testing
      6. Runbook versioning and management
         1. Naming
         2. Folder structure
            1. Component runbooks
            2. Control runbooks
            3. Initiation runbooks
            4. Sample of Orchestrator structure
         3. Runbook versioning
            1. Component runbooks
            2. Control runbooks
            3. Initiation runbooks
            4. Storing version information
         4. Microsoft Team Foundation Server integration
      7. Runbook deployment and monitoring
9. Chapter 5 Orchestrator runbook best practices and patterns
   1. Runbook design best practices
      1. Flow control
      2. Publishing data
      3. Logging execution data
      4. Looping
      5. Sequential vs. parallel activity execution
      6. Setting job concurrency
   2. Using Windows PowerShell in Orchestrator
      1. Windows PowerShell remoting
         1. Subscribe to Published Data
         2. Set trace and status variables to defaults
         3. Validate inputs
         4. Establish PS remote session
         5. Execute script in remote session
         6. Use try/catch/finally
         7. Append useful data to the Trace variable
         8. Add any required Windows PowerShell modules
         9. Use throw for common errors
         10. Perform core task logic
         11. Set ErrorState and ErrorMessage
         12. Return results
         13. Prep data for Orchestrator Publishing
         14. Close remote session
         15. Putting it all together
      2. Returning arrays
   3. Runbook patterns
      1. Component runbook pattern
         1. Rules
         2. Error handling
         3. Validation of input parameters
            1. Range validation (1-12):
            2. Enum validation (blue, red):
            3. Email address validation:
            4. Date validation:
            5. IP address validation:
      2. Control runbook pattern
         1. Rules
         2. Error handling
         3. Validation of input parameters
         4. Connectivity runbook
      3. Initiation runbooks
         1. Rules
         2. Error handling
         3. Service requests initiation runbooks
      4. File-based runbook variables
         1. Local runbook variables
         2. Shared runbook variables
      5. File-based state pattern
         1. Working with XML in Windows PowerShell
            1. Creating the file
            2. Non-exclusive read/write
            3. Exclusive read/write
            4. File open pattern for file locks
            5. Delete file
      6. Local state pattern
      7. Shared state and routing/engine patterns
10. Chapter 6 Modular runbook example
    1. Requirements
    2. VM provisioning input XML file
    3. Component runbooks
       1. Component runbook detail: GetVMHostRating
          1. Initialize Data
          2. Get VM Host Rating
          3. Return Data
          4. Link and Conditional Logic
          5. Component runbook summary
       2. Component runbook detail: CreateNewVM
          1. Initialize Data
          2. Create New VM
          3. Return Data
          4. Links and Conditional Logic
    4. Control runbooks
       1. Control runbook detail: Monitor VM Provisioning
       2. Control runbook: VM Provisioning Engine
       3. Remaining control runbooks
    5. Initiation runbook
       1. Initiation runbook: Initiate VM Provisioning
11. Chapter 7 Calling and executing Orchestrator runbooks
    1. Orchestration console
    2. Orchestrator REST API
       1. Microsoft Visual Studio
       2. Windows PowerShell
    3. System Center Service Manager service catalog
       1. Create an initiation runbook
       2. Create an Orchestrator connector
       3. Create a runbook automation activity template
       4. Create a service request template
       5. Create a request offering
       6. Create a service offering
12. Appendix A Windows PowerShell source code for core component runbooks
    1. Get Runbook Path
    2. Get Relative Folder
13. Appendix B Steps to set up VMM to Service Manager integration
    1. Management packs
    2. Create an Operations Manager CI Connector
14. About the authors
15. Backmatter