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Version: 24.5

Self-Service Panel

Automate is a module not only developed for client interaction with the Flexxible support team but is also responsible for the automatic execution of microservices that, due to their specific configuration, need to go through an approval flow or the selection of various parameters before they can be executed.

Features​

On the main screen of the Automate portal, there is a section called “Open a Request”

options

This section leads to a catalog of available microservices based on the services contracted by the client. Thus, this catalog of microservices can contain automations for FlexxClient, for FlexxDesktop, or even both depending on the active products of the subscription.

To access the available microservices, the user only needs to select the desired option, and different categories with existing microservices will be displayed. By selecting one of the categories, the enabled microservices for it will appear on the right:

selfservice

Parameters​

Certain microservices may have different selectable values, such as in the case of 'Get Wifi information,' where the user can select the type of information they want to obtain:

params

In others, the user needs to directly input the value of the variable for the microservice execution. For example, in the 'Kill Process by EXE name,' the user must specify the name of the executable they wish to remove from the computer:

paramlist

Approval Workflow​

Certain requests may require approval before being executed automatically as this can have an economic impact or may require prior analysis to ensure they can be executed safely. For example, deploying new virtualized desktops within a DaaS service environment, or modifying a registry key on physical devices for specific application configuration.

Automate allows for the definition of approval flows for microservices identified within these scenarios. In a standard manner, there are two types of approval flows:

  • Approval by a client or MSP manager: in this case, one or several users within the organization with permissions to approve requests are identified. Thus, when a user requests the execution of a microservice that requires approval, the approvers will receive an email with the details of the request and the possibility to approve or reject it directly from the email, or to access the request for more information.
  • Approval by a client or MSP manager and a Flexxible manager: this type of approval flow is indicated for requests involving the deployment of new resources within a FlexxDesktop environment where Flexxible is responsible for the service (FlexxDesktop Advanced, Enterprise or Edge). The request is analyzed by the technical team before execution to ensure it does not affect the service provided to the client.

The image below shows an example of the notification automatically sent by the system requesting approval for the execution of the microservice to create a new Azure subscription. This has an economic impact, and the client has decided that it should be included in the approval flows.

approbal

Default Microservices Included​

FlexxDesktop Microservices. Flexxible has within Automate a Catalog of Microservices available to FlexxDesktop customers. Within this Automate Microservices Catalog, the following are included:

  • Active Directory:
    • Active Directory VM reset Account
    • Create AD user account
  • Image Management
    • Create Snapshot from Template
    • Restore Snapshot from Template
  • Session Management
    • Backup User Profile
    • Close user Session
    • Close all user sessions
    • Reset user Profile
    • Restore user profile Backup
  • Workspace Management
    • Create a set of APPServers or VDIs
    • Execute action over workspace
    • Execute action over workspace group
    • Modify Resources Assigned to a Virtual Machine (Modify Resources Assigned to VM)
    • Set maintenance OF/OFF for a workspace
    • Set maintenance OF/OFF for a workspace group
    • Update Set of VMs (Update Set of VMs)

The client can request through their Service Provider or directly from Flexxible the creation of other microservices to cover their specific operational requirements.