What is Automation Manager

Automation Manager automation automation policies automation checklist

Automation Manager enables you to eliminate repetitive tasks across your customer base by creating repeatable processes using a visual "drag and drop" scripting interface.

When launched, Automation Manager automatically checks for updates and, if found, upgrades itself to the latest version. For instance, if you installed Automation Manager v1.0 yesterday and we released v2.0 today, the next time you open Automation Manager, it will automatically upgrade from v1.0 to v2.0.

Please keep these key points in mind regarding Automation Manager::
  • When creating a policy with a large number of objects, the Automation Manager Designer will be slow to respond. N-able suggests that you split these larger policies into smaller ones and combine them using Run Policy objects.
  • Policy files larger than 10MB cannot be uploaded through the Automation Manager Designer. Policy files larger than 20MB cannot be uploaded through N-able N-central.
  • If you try to run two policies containing SSH objects at the same time, then unexpected errors can occur. For example, the first policy can send commands in the SSH session created by the second policy. These errors occur because a class which handles the SSH connection is static.

If you have a number of tasks that you need to perform on a regular basis, you roll up these tasks into a "policy" (an Automation Manager Policy, or AMP) using Automation Manager, set up the schedule for this policy in N-able N-central, and then report back the details and status to your customers.

Automation Manager Policies support backward compatibility. This means that newly created or updated policies can run on older agents, so long as the policy doesn't use objects that are newer than what is supported on the agent. Within the Automation Manager Designer's help section for each object, the version required to support this object will be shown, and your policy will display the lowest version required to run your complete policy as you add and remove objects.

You can also use custom properties with Automation Manager policies that pulls in the appropriate customer or device-specific information, rather than creating separate Automation Manager policies per customer, or per device. Automation policies can also set the property for devices. For example, a policy can run based on a property of "Maintenance required". After completion of the task, the automation policy can change the property to "Maintenance completed. Automation policies cannot update customer-level properties.

Automation Manager requires PowerShell 5.x to run AMP-based services.

Automation Manager allows you to configure any messages that are sent to the user with your company logo, fonts, and colors.

Assembling an Automation Manager Policy draws on the Automation Objects (a set of actions or tasks) library from the following categories:

System Requirements

Devices running Automation Manager and devices running Automation Policies (scripts) require the following:

Windows Operating System

Type OS Version
Workstations Microsoft Windows 7 (32/64-bit) or later
Servers Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (32/64-bit) or later

Software

Software Version / Info
.NET Framework version 4.6 or later
PowerShell version 5.1 or later
N-sight RMM or N-central Windows Agent only required on devices where the created Automation Policies will be run or tested

Automation Policy Requirements

As well as the above requirements, devices where the Automation Policies will be run must also meet the following requirements, dependent on the Automation Policy functionality.

Automation Policy Includes Device Installed Software Requirement
SSH object(s) Operating System = Professional or Enterprise license at minimum
Telnet object(s)
Wake on LAN object(s)

Office 365 object(s)

Operating System = Professional license at minimum

Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant

Microsoft Online Services for Windows PowerShell or Windows Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell

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