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Guided workflows in Jitterbit App Builder

Introduction

A guided workflow walks an administrator through a maintenance task one step at a time, for example selecting the packages or objects involved, sending notifications, and then installing a package or locking a resource. App Builder keeps track of a guided workflow's progress, so it can be paused and resumed at any point, even by a different administrator.

App Builder provides two guided workflows by default, described in this page: Install Packages, which walks you through installing a release package, and Maintenance, which walks you through locking an application or data source so it can be updated safely. These native guided workflows standardize maintenance tasks that would otherwise require several manual, error-prone steps. You can also create your own custom guided workflows to match your organization's process.

The guided workflows are available on the Workflow tab of the Maintenance page, accessible from the IDE. This page has been available since App Builder 4.43 as a beta, and generally available since App Builder 4.65.

For a complete reference of every field and panel on the Maintenance page, see Maintenance.

Run the Install Packages guided workflow

The Install Packages guided workflow steps you through installing a release package, with the option to notify affected users before and after installation. To run it, follow these steps:

  1. Select IDE > Maintenance.

  2. In the Start Workflow panel, click Start Now for Install Packages.

  3. Select Packages (Select/Upload Packages action): Select a release package already available in the environment, or upload one.

  4. Select Affected Objects (Select Objects action): Review the applications and data sources App Builder populated from the package's manifest, adding any more if needed. These objects become the default recipients for the notification steps below.

  5. Pre-Install | Send Notification(s) (Notifications action): (Optional) Send a notification warning affected users that installation is about to begin.

  6. Install Packages (Install Packages action): Review the package's manifest, release details, and release notes, then click Install.

  7. Post-Install | Send Notification(s) (Notifications action): (Optional) Send a notification letting affected users know installation is complete.

Tip

You can navigate away and resume this guided workflow at any time from the On-Going Workflows panel. Installation itself also runs in the background, so the affected application remains available while a package installs.

For details on every field available at each step, see Steps.

Run the Maintenance guided workflow

The Maintenance guided workflow steps you through locking an application or data source, so that non-whitelisted users are redirected to a maintenance page, and unlocking it once maintenance is complete. To run it, follow these steps:

  1. Select IDE > Maintenance.

  2. In the Start Workflow panel, click Start Now for Maintenance.

  3. Select Affected Objects (Select Objects action): Select the applications and data sources to lock. These objects become the default recipients for the notification steps below.

  4. Pre-Lock | Send Notification(s) (Notifications action): (Optional) Send a notification. This step ships with the notification Application(s) Down, which you can send as is or customize before sending. It's the only notification that ships pre-configured with App Builder.

  5. Lock/Unlock Affected Objects (Lock & Unlock action): Click Toggle Locks to lock the selected objects. See Grant access to a locked application or data source for who can still reach a locked resource, and who gets redirected to a maintenance page.

  6. Post-Unlock | Send Notification(s) (Notifications action): (Optional) Send a notification letting affected users know access has been restored.

Clicking Finish unlocks any objects still locked at the end of the guided workflow.

For details on every field available at each step, see Steps.

For guidance on using this guided workflow during a platform upgrade in a single-environment deployment, see Single-environment (production-only) deployments.

Custom guided workflows

Create a guided workflow

To create your own guided workflow:

  1. Select IDE > Maintenance.
  2. In the Start Workflow panel, click Configure.
  3. In the Workflows panel, click + Workflow and enter a name.
  4. In the Steps panel, click + Step for each step the guided workflow needs, and set its Name and Action. For a description of every available action and its fields, see Steps.

Edit, copy, or delete a guided workflow

To edit, copy, or delete a guided workflow:

  1. Select IDE > Maintenance.
  2. In the Start Workflow panel, click Configure.

  3. In the Workflows panel, locate the guided workflow you're looking for and select its row. Then:

    • To delete the guided workflow, click the trash icon, then click Proceed when asked for confirmation.
    • To edit the guided workflow, use the Steps panel to modify its steps, or rename it in the Workflows panel's Name field.
    • To copy the guided workflow, click More > Copy, then click Proceed when asked for confirmation.

Note

The App Builder-provided guided workflows, Install Packages and Maintenance, cannot be edited or deleted, but can be copied.

Send an on-demand notification during a guided workflow

Since App Builder version 4.44, you can send an immediate (on-demand) notification at any step in a guided workflow. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Select More > Notifications.

  2. In the Notification dialog, enter the details of the notification.

  3. (Optional) Open the Dismiss After Step menu, then select after which step the notification is to be dismissed.

  4. Click the Send button.

Tip

On a Notifications step, the same action is also available directly as an On-Demand Notification button.

Dismiss notifications

Since App Builder version 4.44, you can dismiss any notification sent by guided workflows, whether pre-built or on-demand. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Select IDE > Maintenance.

  2. Select the Notifications tab.

  3. Click the Dismiss button for a notification. If the notification originated from a guided workflow, its Workflow Name and Label columns identify which guided workflow and step sent it.

Grant access to a locked application or data source

Locking prevents users from accessing selected resources, while allowing selected user groups to keep working, for example to finish testing before a release goes live. By default, the Maintenance guided workflow locks resources using its Lock & Unlock step, but any custom guided workflow can include this action too. Locking involves two independent kinds of access.

Grant access to the locked resource itself

By default, the Administrators and Developers security groups can still access a locked application or data source. To allow another group access, follow these steps:

  1. Select IDE > User Management.
  2. Select the Groups tab.
  3. In the Groups panel, click the Open record icon for a group.
  4. In the Group dialog, select More > Edge Case.
  5. Turn on the Application and Data Source Lock switch, then click Save.

Grant access to the maintenance page

Any user who is not in a group granted the access above is redirected to a maintenance page when they try to reach a locked resource. For a user to be redirected instead of getting an Access Denied error, their group needs access to the Vinyl - Maintenance app, granted the Everyone role on the Vinyl (Sealed) data source. To grant this to a group, including the Anonymous Users group (for unauthenticated visitors), follow these steps:

  1. Select IDE > User Management.
  2. Select the Groups tab.
  3. Select the group, then click Manage Privileges.
  4. Click + Privilege, then add the Vinyl - Maintenance application.
  5. Grant the group the Everyone role on the Vinyl (Sealed) data source.

This requirement is specific to the default maintenance page; see Set up a custom maintenance page for the separate access requirements of a custom one.

Set up a custom maintenance page

By default, locked-out users are redirected to App Builder's built-in maintenance page. To redirect users of a specific application to a custom page instead, follow these steps:

  1. Design the page you want to use, in any application other than the one being locked (a page inside the locked application isn't reachable once that application is locked).

  2. Mark the page as Public: with the page open, click Edge Case, then turn on the Public switch.

  3. Select IDE > Maintenance, then select the Settings tab.

  4. In the Maintenance Pages panel, find the row for the application, then set its Page field to the page you designed.

Target users need at least Read access to the custom page. If a user doesn't have access to it, they're redirected to the default maintenance page instead; if they don't have access to that page either, they get an Access Denied error.