Input property groups in Automation Assembler

Automation Assembler input property groups usually include related settings for the user to enter or select. They might also include read-only values needed by the cloud template design.

Creating the input property group

1. Go to Design > Property Groups, and click New Property Group.
2. Select Input Values.
3. Name and describe the new property group.

   Name	Property group names must be unique within a given organization. Only letters, numbers, and underscores are permitted.
   Display Name	Add a heading for the entire group of properties, which appears on the request form.
   Description	Explain what this set of properties is for.
   Scope	Decide whether an administrator may share the property group with the whole organization. Otherwise, only one project can access the property group. Although you can always add or modify properties in the group, the scope is permanent and can't be changed later.
   Project	When the scope is project-only, this project can access the property group.

4. To add a property to the group, click New Property.

   The panel for adding a new property is very similar to the Inputs tab of the Automation Assembler design page code editor.

   Name	Free-form name for the individual property. Only letters, numbers, and underscores are permitted.
   Display Name	Add an individual property name to appear on the request form.
   Type	String, Integer, Number, Boolean (T/F), Object, or Array.
   Default Value	Preset value entry that appears in the request form. The presence of default values affects whether input is optional or required. For more information, see User input in VMware Aria Automation requests.
   Encrypted	When selected, obscures the value when entering it into the request form and in the subsequent deployment. Encrypted properties can't have a default value.
   Read-only	An uneditable but visible value in the request form. Requires a default.
   More Options	Options that vary according to property type. Expand the drop-down, add any additional settings, and click Create.

   In the following example, the property being added represents the operating system image, and the requesting user can select from two.

   Note: The operating systems shown in the example figure must already be part of the configured Automation Assembler infrastructure.

   

5. Add more properties to the group, and click Save when finished.

   

Adding the property group to cloud template inputs

Even for a long list of property inputs, you only need to add the property group to make them all part of the request form.

1. In the cloud template design page, above the editing area on the right, click the Inputs tab.
2. Click New Cloud Template Input.
3. Name and describe the property group.

   Name	Enter something similar to the property group name that you created earlier.
   Display Name	Enter the same heading that you created earlier for the entire group of properties, which appears on the request form.
   Type	Select Object.
   Object Type	Select Property Group.
   Property groups list	Select the property group that you want. Only property groups that are created and available for your project appear. Note that constant property groups don't appear.

   

4. Click Create.

The process creates cloud template inputs code similar to the following example.

inputs:
  pgmachine:
    type: object
    title: Machine Properties
    $ref: /ref/property-groups/machine
  pgrequester:
    type: object
    title: Requester Details
    $ref: /ref/property-groups/requesterDetails

You may also enter code directly into the Automation Assembler design page, and take advantage of the automatic prompting as you type $ref: /ref/p... in the code editor.

Binding cloud template resources to the property group

To make use of property group input values, add bindings under the resource.

Depending on what kind of values are in a property group, you might want to reference them individually. You can enter them separately, by property group name and property name.

resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      image: '${input.pgmachine.image}'
      flavor: '${input.pgmachine.flavor}'

You can also quickly add an entire set of values to a resource by referencing an entire property group.

resources:
  Cloud_Machine_1:
    type: Cloud.Machine
    properties:
      requester: '${input.pgrequester}'

Completed code

When you're finished with the inputs and resources, the finished code looks similar to the following example.

Upon deployment request, your property groups appear for the requesting user to complete.

Property groups in the Automation Service Broker custom form editor

Property groups are not editable like other fields in the custom form designer.

See Customize an Automation Service Broker icon and request form for more information.