How to start with Automic?

[Alex Ericson]

Hello Guys,

due to my job as trainee I have to change sometimes the departement. In the new one I have to work with Automic and I have no idea where to start with. I have no knowledge or experience about Automic and my first goal is to move a file from one folder to  another in UNIX. 
Do you have some tips or a clue where to start? The topic itself is a littlebit "overwhelming". 

I am thankful for everyone who can help

Best regards
Alex

[Pete Wirfs]

The product is very flexible and allows every shop to implement its own best practices.  So my first recommendation is to seek local training from someone who knows your installation so you will understand the local best practices.

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Pete
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[Frank Muffke]

Hi

first thank your line manager - its similar as sitting someone into a plane cockpit without even a driving license for a car :-)

as Pete explained - in Automic there are mostly 10 ways to archieve a goal - 2 are good, 3 are ok and 5 are worse. The bad thing is that the worse solutions pop up after years - when hundereds of objects are affected....
Cite of a colleague: There are many ways to design a UC4 Job bad :-)

I would first of all ask for a Training - in best case from Automic or an automic consultant - there are training classes offered.
As far as I remember they were called Basics, Basics2 (advanced), Admin and Script.

Depending on your existing implementations I would attend at least Basics 1 and 2 and optional Script.

Plan B: Training from someone who uses Automic in your company.
Plan C: Training from one "who knows everything about Automic"
Plan X: Training from someone who can spell "UC4" without mistakes...

:-)

cheers, Wolfgang

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Support Info:
if you are using one of the latest version of UC4 / AWA / One Automation please get in contact with Support to open a ticket.
Otherwise update/upgrade your system and check if the problem still exists.
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[Stephan Schratzberger]

Hello Alex,

as Pete and Wolfgang already mentioned - doing a training would be a very wise decision. 
For your task - have a look at the manged-file transfer or JOBF objects in Automic.

But now we enter the huge discussion about the context (meaning environment configurations, organizational processes, responsibilities, etc.) of your job running in. 

So what you could do is:

1. create a JOBF object
2. Enter all necessary information (agent, login, filepaths, etc.)
3. Execute it

No you transfer the specified "hardcoded" file from Agent A (running on server A) to Agent B (running on server B).

The problem is, you can not configure this job, you cannot reuse it for other transfers, etc.

To achieve things like that, there are many ways. The one you should follow - my personal opinion - since you just started: is the extensive usage of packages and actions that you build yourself.
You can see this as some kind of library or SDK you built and with which you can build your workflows.

[Christoph Rekers]

Hi Alex,

If you keep the file on the same machine and just want to move it from one folder to another, you will not do that using an JOBF - never!  Use a simple Unix Job and take the Unix "move" command - as you would do it sitting at the command line of that Unix machine. Stephan is right, if it's about transferring the file from one machine to another. 

Cheers
Christoph

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First contact with UC4 (V2.5) in 2000 ;-)
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[Stephan Schratzberger]

Hi,

yes - it is absolutely correct JOBF is only for different machines usefull. Otherwise you should use one JOBS UNIX object and code the move command. I understood your question, that you need to transfer between servers.

This is the thing with automation and Automic. You have to keep in mind a lot of things depending on the context. So a training would be a very good idea, also should you setup a development and/or playground system so you can try certain things and test the behavior of jobs and ideas you have on how to build a solution.

Best Regards
Stephan

[Alex Ericson]

Hello,

know I understand that I need the JOBS UNIX object for moving the file within UNIX. 
Meanwhile I asked someone in my company about automic trainings and I hope he can offer me one soon. I just need a solid fundement from which I can collect experience by my self. 

Thanks a lot to everyone who helped. 

Alex

[Tim Osgood]

Hi Alex,

Your first place to start is Automic documentaion.  There is a lot of good information but tends to lean toward what it is and not always how/when to use it.  This community is a good place to search for the how/when.

As Stephen suggested set up a training client so you can play and break things without issue.  I have setup a windows, unix and raftp agent on VMs for use only in my training client.  I have new users from time to time so I created a beginner training document to get them started and have atached it.  It is a combination of Automic documentation, Automic training and our most common usage.  Object naming conventions and getting ready for production are specific to my organization but you should develop your own standards for your organization.

I've been working with Automic for almost 3 years and I am still learning new things thanks to this community.  Good coding.

Tim

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Developer
State of Colorado
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Attachment(s)

Automic Training - Beginner 2hr.pptx   2.56 MB 1 version

[Elina McCafferty]

Hi Alex,
If you haven't already, watch these playlists to get started on the basics:

• Intro to Automic Automation 12.3
• Automic Automation Objects

Also have a look at the Getting Started section in the documentation.

Best regards,
Elina