Configuring a Stop/Break activity
When configuring a Stop/Break activity, you can specify the text of an information message. The activity terminates the workflow instance and reports the corresponding event to the Active Roles event log. The message is included in the event description. If possible, the activity also displays that message in the client user interface (such as the Active Roles console or Web Interface) that was used to request the operation that started the workflow.
To configure a Stop/Break activity
- In the Active Roles console tree, expand Configuration | Policies | Workflow, and select the workflow containing the Stop/Break activity you want to configure.
This opens the Workflow Designer window in the details pane, representing the workflow definition as a process diagram.
- In the process diagram, right-click the name of the activity and click Properties.
- View and, if necessary, change the message text in the Information message box.
Configuring an Add Report Section activity
You can use an Add Report Section activity to add custom information to the change history report (in case of workflow started by an operation request) or run history report (in case of automation workflow). The activity adds a separate section to the Workflow activities and policy actions area of the report. The section consists of a header and a body. When you configure an Add Report Section activity, you specify what information you want the header and the body to contain.
To configure an Add Report Section Activity
- In the Active Roles console tree, expand Configuration | Policies | Workflow, and select the workflow containing the Add Report Section activity you want to configure.
This opens the Workflow Designer window in the details pane, representing the workflow definition as a process diagram.
- In the process diagram, right-click the name of the activity and click Properties.
- Under This report section is intended to display information about, select the Error condition option if you want the report to display the text of the header and the body of the report section in red. Otherwise, select the Successful operation option.
- Under Header of the report section, click Define to compose the text of the header. The following options are available:
- Text string. Specify a literal string of characters to be displayed as the header of the report section. The Workflow Designer prompts you to type the desired string.
- Value generated by rule expression. Compose the header text of data entries to be calculated during execution of the activity. The Workflow Designer prompts you to configure a string of entries, and offers various entry types allowing the header text to include properties of objects involved in the workflow and related objects, date and time of activity execution, and workflow parameters.
- Under Body of the report section, click Add text and choose from the following options to configure the body text of the report section:
- Text string. Add a literal string of characters. The Workflow Designer prompts you to type the desired string.
- Workflow date and time. Add a date/ time string representing the date and time that the activity is started at workflow run time (referred to as the current date and time in the Workflow Designer). You can change the format of the date/time string and specify a time offset, in days, if needed.
- Workflow parameter value. Add a text string specified by a particular parameter of the workflow. The Workflow Designer prompts you to select the desired parameter.
- Workflow parameter value. Add a text string specified by a particular parameter of the workflow. The Workflow Designer prompts you to select the desired parameter.
- Newline character (CR/LF). Add the end-of-line code to start a new string.
- Tab character. Add a tab character to the string.
- Bullet character. Add a bullet point to the string. You can use a bullet point followed by a tab character at the beginning of a string to format the string as a bulleted list item.
- Property of object from workflow data context. Add the value of a certain property of the object that will be selected by the activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. The Workflow Designer prompts you to choose the desired property and specify which object you want the activity to select upon creating the report section at workflow run time.
In the Body of the report section box, you can modify, reorder, or remove text entries. To modify a text entry, click the text and then click Edit. To reorder or remove text entries, use the buttons on the right side of the list items representing the text entries in the Body of the report section box. Thus, to remove an entry, click the X button on the right side of the list item representing that entry in the Body of the report section box.
Configuring a Search activity
You can use a Search activity to perform a search against directory data to find objects, such as users or groups, that match the criteria you specify based on object properties, object location and other information available in the execution environment of the workflow, and to pass these objects to other activities so that the workflow can perform the appropriate actions on them. You can insert activities into a Search activity and have those activities process the objects found by the Search activity.
To add an activity to a Search activity
- In the Active Roles console tree, expand Configuration | Policies | Workflow, and select the workflow containing the Search activity.
This opens the Workflow Designer window in the details pane, representing the workflow definition as a process diagram.
- In the details pane, drag the activity from the left panel onto Search activity in the process diagram.
To configure a Search activity, right-click the name of that activity in the process diagram and click Properties. Then, perform the following tasks in the “Search” Activity Properties dialog box:
Configure scope and filter
Use the scope and filter settings to define where you want the activity to search and what you want the activity to search for. These settings are configured on the Search and scope tab in the “Search” Activity Properties dialog box.
To configure scope and filter settings
- From the Use this activity to list, choose the option appropriate to your search scenario:
- Choose Search in the Organizational Unit or container to search a certain OU or container for objects that match your search criteria.
- Choose Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group to search for the managed objects of a particular user or group that match your search criteria. Managed objects of a user or group are those for which the user or group is the primary owner (manager) or a secondary owner.
- Choose Search the group for its members to search for the members of a certain group that match your search criteria.
- Choose Search for direct reports of the user to search for the direct reports of a particular user that match your search criteria. Direct reports of a given user are the users for which that user is the manager.
- Choose Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search) to search for the objects listed in a certain attribute of a particular object that match your search criteria.
- From the Find list, choose the type of object to search for.
Depending on the search scenario option, you can choose from the following object types:
- Users Search for user accounts.
- Contacts Search for contact objects.
- Groups Search for groups.
- Computers Search for computer accounts
- Printers Search for printer objects.
- Organizational Units Search for Organizational Units.
- Shared Folders Search for shared folder objects.
- Exchange Recipients Search for mailboxes or mail-enabled users, groups, or contacts.
- Inactive Accounts Search for users computers that haven’t logged on for more than a certain number of days, have the password age of more that a certain number of days, or are expired for more than a certain number of days.
- All Objects Search for objects of any type.
Some of these object types are unavailable for certain search scenario options. For example, with the option to search for direct reports, the only available object types are Users and All Objects. Consult the Object type topic to see what object types are available for a given search scenario option.
- Click in the In box to specify where you want the activity to search.
The role of the object you configure in the In box depends upon your search scenario option:
- With the Search in the Organizational Unit or container option, the activity will search the OU or container specified in the In box.
- With the Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group option, the activity will search for the managed objects of the user or group specified in the In box.
- With the Search the group for its members option, the activity will search for members of the group specified in the In box.
- With the Search for direct reports of the user option, the activity will search for direct reports of the user specified in the In box.
- With the Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search) option, the activity will search for objects listed in a certain attribute of the object specified in the In box. You can choose the attribute to search.
- When you click in the In box, the workflow designer offers a number of options for you to specify the desired object. Depending on your search scenario, you can choose from the following options:
Table 60: Configure and scope filter settings
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Search in the Organizational Unit or container. |
- Fixed container in directory. Search in the given OU or container. You can select the desired OU or container in Active Directory when you configure a Search activity.
- Parent OU of workflow target object. Search in the OU that holds the target object of the request that started the workflow.
- Object identified by workflow parameter. Search in the OU or container specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
- Object from workflow data context. Search in the OU or container that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which OU or container you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
- Object identified by DN-value rule expression. Search in the OU or container whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity.
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Search for resources managed or owned by the user or group. |
- Workflow target object. Search for resources managed or owned by the target object of the request that started the workflow.
- Object identified by workflow parameter. Search for resources managed or owned by the object specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
- Object from workflow data context. Search for resources managed or owned by the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
- Object identified by DN-value rule expression. Search for resources managed or owned by the object whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity.
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Search the group for its members. |
- Workflow target object. Search for members of the group that is the target object of the request that started the workflow.
- Object identified by workflow parameter. Search the group specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
- Object from workflow data context. Search for members of the group object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which group object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
- Object identified by DN-value rule expression. Search the group whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression, you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity.
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Search for direct reports of the user. |
- Workflow target object. Search for direct reports of the target object of the request that started the workflow.
- Object identified by workflow parameter. Search for direct reports of the object specified by the value of a certain parameter of the workflow. You can choose the desired parameter when you configure a Search activity.
- Object from workflow data context. Search for direct reports of the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
- Object identified by DN-value rule expression. Search for direct reports of the object whose Distinguished Name (DN) is specified by the string value of a certain rule expression. By using a rule expression you can compose a string value based on properties of various objects found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. You can create the desired rule expression when you configure a Search activity.
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Search within the object's attribute (ASQ search). |
- Fixed object in directory. Search in a certain attribute of the given object. You can select the desired object in Active Directory when you configure a Search activity.
- Workflow target object. Search in a certain attribute of the target object of the request that started the workflow.
- Object from workflow data context. Search in a certain attribute of the object that will be selected by the Search activity on the basis of the data found in the workflow environment at the time of executing the workflow. When configuring a Search activity, you can specify which object you want the activity to select at workflow run time.
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- Select the appropriate option to further define your search scenario.
If you chose to search in an Organizational Unit or container, then, under When searching the Organizational Unit or container, select one these options:
- Retrieve only immediate child objects of the Organizational Unit or container. Restricts the search to objects for which the given OU or container is the immediate parent in Active Directory.
- Retrieve any objects held in the Organizational Unit or container. Search in the entire directory tree rooted in the given OU or container.
If you chose to search for resources managed or owned by a given user or group, then, under When searching for managed resources, select any combination of these options:
- Retrieve objects managed by the user or group (primary owner). Search for objects that have the given user or group specified in the “Managed By” property.
- Retrieve objects for which the user or group is a secondary owner. Search for objects that have the given user or group specified in the “Secondary Owners” property.
- Retrieve objects managed or owned due to membership in groups (indirect ownership). Search for objects for which the given user or group is a direct or indirect member of the group specified in the “Managed By” or “Secondary Owners” property.
If you chose to search for members of a given group, then, under When searching the group for its members, select any combination of these options:
- Also retrieve indirect members. Have your search results include indirect members of the given group. With this option, the activity searches not only for objects that are directly added to the group (direct members) but also for indirect members-objects that belong to the group because of their membership in other groups which are direct or indirect members of the given group.
- Also retrieve pending members. Have your search results include objects that are scheduled to be added to the group by using the “Temporal Group Memberships” capability of Active Roles.
If you chose to perform an ASQ search, then click in the Search within this attribute box to select the attribute for the ASQ search. This must be an attribute that stores Distinguished Names, such as the “Member Of” or “Managed By” attribute. The search is performed against the objects that are identified by the Distinguished Names found in that attribute. For example, a search within the “Member Of” attribute of a user account looks for groups in which the user is a member.
- Click in the Search options box to restrict your search to objects with particular characteristics. The available search options are specific to the object type you chose to search for.
If you chose to search for users:
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve only these Exchange recipients. to restrict your search to Microsoft Exchange mailbox-enabled users or Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled users.
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve only inactive user accounts. to restrict your search to user accounts that meet certain inactivity conditions. In the dialog box that opens, you can choose the inactivity conditions as appropriate.
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve only expiring user accounts to restrict your search to user accounts that will expire within a certain number of days. In the dialog box that opens, you can set the number of days you want.
If you chose to search for contacts:
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve only these Exchange recipients. to restrict your search to Microsoft Exchange mail-enabled contacts.
If you chose to search for groups:
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve only these Exchange recipients. to restrict your search to recipients that meet certain conditions, such as users with Exchange mailbox, users with external e-mail addresses, mail-enabled groups, contacts with external e-mail addresses, mail-enabled Public Folders, Query-based Distribution Groups, room mailboxes, equipment mailboxes, linked mailboxes, or shared mailboxes. In the dialog box that opens, you can choose the conditions for Exchange recipients as appropriate.
- Click the hyperlink under Retrieve mailboxes matching this storage filter. to restrict your search to mailbox hosted on a certain mailbox server or held in a certain mailbox database. In the dialog box that opens, you can choose the desired server or database.
If chose to search for inactive accounts, click a hyperlink under Retrieve these account types or Retrieve accounts that meet any of these conditions, and then, in the dialog box that opens, view or change the following search options specific to inactive accounts:
- Under Retrieve these account types, select the appropriate option depending on whether you want to search for inactive user accounts only, inactive computer accounts only, or both user and computer accounts that are inactive.
- Under Retrieve accounts that meet any of the selected conditions, choose and configure the account inactivity conditions. Accounts that meet any of the conditions you choose will be considered inactive. The following condition options are available:
- Account has not logged on in the past <number> days This option allows you to specify the period, in days, that an account is not used to log on, after which the account is considered inactive. The search retrieves a given account if no successful logons to that account have occurred for more days than specified by this option.
The search activity uses the lastLogonTimeStamp attribute to determine the last time that a given user or computer successfully logged on. Active Directory updates that attribute only periodically, rather than every time that a user or computer logs on. Normally, the period of update is 14 days. This means that the lastLogonTimeStamp value could be off by as much as 14 days, so the true last logon time is later than lastLogonTimeStamp. Hence, it is advisable to choose the logon inactivity period of more than 14 days.
- Account’s password has not changed in the past <number> days This option allows you to specify the password age, in days, after which an account is considered inactive. The search retrieves a given account if the password of the account remains unchanged for more days than specified by this option.
- Account expired more than <number> days before the current date This option allows you to specify the number of days after which an expired account is considered inactive. The search retrieves a given account if the account remains in the expired state for more days than specified by this option.
- Optionally, configure a filter to further refine your search. See instructions that follow.
