Allow the workflow to be run on demand
If you select the Allow the workflow to be run on demand option, users can run the workflow manually, regardless of a schedule. This option allows a user to run the workflow at any time if necessary. A workflow can be started on demand from the Active Roles Console or Web Interface, by choosing the Run command on the workflow definition object. For details, see Running an automation workflow on demand.
Active Roles normally allows only one instance of the workflow to run at a time. However, you can change this behavior for the case of running the workflow on demand. The following options are available:
The first option allows starting a new instance of the workflow on demand, even if the workflow is already running. This option works only if the workflow is started on demand. If the workflow is performing a scheduled run, Active Roles allows only one instance of the workflow to run at a time.
“Run as” options for an automation workflow
The “Run as” options determine the user account that the workflow runs under. Click the “Run as” options link on the Workflow Options and Start Conditions page to view or change the account setting. You can choose from the following options:
-
The service account of Active Roles: The workflow runs under the service account of the Administration Service that runs the workflow.
-
The account of the user who started the workflow: The workflow runs under the Windows account of the user who requested the operation that started the workflow.
All activities within the workflow normally run under the account identified by the “Run as” options for the workflow. However, each activity can be configured to use individual “Run as” options. The property page for the activity contains the “Run as” options link allowing you to override the workflow “Run as” setting on a per-activity basis.
When running under the account of the Administration Service, the workflow activities have the same rights and permissions as the Administration Service itself and thus can perform any tasks allowed for the Administration Service.
When running under the account of the user who started the workflow, the activities can perform only the tasks that Active Roles allows for that user account. The Administration Service processes the activity operation requests as if they were submitted by that user via Active Roles, so the activities have the rights and permissions the user account is given in Active Roles.
Enforce approval
The Enforce approval option determines whether to apply approval rules to the changes requested by the workflow running under a privileged account. When selected, this option causes the approval-pending changes requested by the workflow activities to be submitted for approval regardless of the account under which the workflow is running. Otherwise, the changes are applied without waiting for approval if the workflow is running under the service account of Active Roles, under the account of the approver, or under the account of an Active Roles administrator. You can override this setting on a per-activity basis.
Additional settings for an automation workflow
The additional settings specify whether to terminate the workflow if it runs longer that a certain time period. Click the Additional settings link on the Workflow Options and Start Conditions page to view or change the following setting:
- Terminate the workflow if it runs longer than: <time period>
This setting allows you to limit the amount of time the workflow is allowed to run. Use this setting to limit the automation workflow that might take a long period of time to execute, causing an inconvenience to the user.