Errands are scripts that can run at the beginning and at the end of an installed product’s availability time.
This topic describes the product errands used in VMware Tanzu Operations Manager, and how you can use Tanzu Operations Manager to adjust whether and when these errands run.
Product tiles include two types of errands:
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Post-deploy errands run after the product installs but before Tanzu Operations Manager makes the product available for use. One example is an errand that publishes a newly-installed service to the Services Marketplace.
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Pre-delete errands run after an operator chooses to delete the product but before Tanzu Operations Manager actually deletes it. One example is a clean-up task that removes all data objects used by the errand.
When you click Review Pending Changes, then Apply Changes in Tanzu Operations Manager, BOSH either creates a VM for each errand that runs or co-locates errands on existing VMs. Tile developers determine where BOSH deploys the errands for their product.
VMware Tanzu Application Service for VMs (TAS for VMs) provides several post-deploy errands including smoke tests, Apps Manager, notification, Tanzu Operations Manager Account, and autoscaling errands. For more information about TAS for VMs errands, see the TAS for VMs documentation.
For information about the errands associated with any other Tanzu Operations Manager product, see the documentation provided with the product tile.
Errand run rules
You can configure two different run rules for errands: On and Off. These rules control when Tanzu Operations Manager executes the errand.
When the errand is configured to be On, then it always runs, even if there are no changes to the product manifest. When the errand is configured to be Off, it never runs.
By default, Tanzu Operations Manager applies the On rule to all errands.
For any errand, you can override these Tanzu Operations Manager defaults with your own tile-specific defaults defined in the tile property blueprints.
Configure errand run rules in Tanzu Operations Manager
You can configure the run rules for errands in two places in Tanzu Operations Manager. The Errands pane saves your configuration and applies the configuration to future installations. The Pending Changes view applies the rules only to the next time you run a Tanzu Operations Manager install, without saving them.
Errands pane: persistent rules
Product tiles for TAS for VMs and other Tanzu Operations Manager products have an Errands pane that configures the run rules for the product’s errands and saves the settings for later.
The Errands pane lists all errands for the product and lets you select On or Off. The Default option differs depending on the errand, and reflects the default setting used by Tanzu Operations Manager for the errand or any tile-specific default that overrides it.
To configure run rules for a tile:
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In Tanzu Operations Manager, click the tile to open it.
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Under the Settings tab, open the Errands pane.
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Use the drop-down menus to configure the run rule choice for each errand: On or Off.
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Click Save to save the configuration values and return to the Installation Dashboard.
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Click Review Pending Changes, then Apply Changes to redeploy the tile with the new settings.
Review Pending Changes: one-time rules
Tanzu Operations Manager lets you quickly configure one-time errand run rules for any product queued up for installation:
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In Tanzu Operations Manager, go to the Review Pending Changes section that shows products that Tanzu Operations Manager has yet to install or update.
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Expand the ERRANDS link, for the product you want to configure. A list of errands associated with the product appears.
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Select any errands you want to run during the Apply Changes action. Tanzu Operations Manager uses these settings when you Apply Changes to install the product, but does not save the settings for future installations.
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Click Apply Changes to redeploy the tile.
Related links
If you are a product developer and want to learn more about adding errands to your product tile for Tanzu Operations Manager, see Errands in Tanzu Operations Manager Tile Developer Guide.
