Cisco Cisco Process Orchestrator 3.0 Libro bianco

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Automation Packs

Automation packs are the primary means of extending integrations in the field. Automation Packs are collections of

process definitions, target groups, variables, and other configurations needed to define a set of automated IT

processes.

Users can list the installed automation packs and view automation pack properties from the Administration—

Automation Packs view in the console.

The automation pack properties dialog box displays general information about the content provided by the

automation pack, version number, publish date, the provided objects, the dependencies of the automation pack,

and the history of changes made to the automation pack.

NOTE: Additional information regarding Automation Packs can be found in your Cisco Process Orchestrator 3.0

User Guide and in the Cisco Process Orchestrator help.

Adapters

Adapters are one of the extensibility mechanisms in the Process Orchestrator platform, and are only written by

members of the Process Orchestrator product development team. The development team uses adapters to extend

Process Orchestrator functionality to integrate with devices, environments, applications, or tools.

The Administration > Adapters view displays the licensed adapters that provide specific functionality.

On the Adapters Properties dialog box, you can view general information related to the adapter. Each adapter

provides specific functionality within Process Orchestrator. Use the Provides tab in the adapter properties dialog

box to view the functionality that is provided by an adapter. Additional information on the property dialog box for

each adapter varies.

NOTE: Additional information regarding Adapters can be found in your Cisco Process Orchestrator 3.0 User Guide

and in the Cisco Process Orchestrator help.

Automation Packs and Adapters Unify to Enable Integrations

Integration with some domain manager or other IT element is often a combination of automation content from an

automation pack combined with the use of several adapters. These two concepts unify to contribute to the ability

to integrate with some element of the IT environment. Integration can then take several forms:



a native Cisco Process Orchestrator adapter



an automation pack relying on packaged adapter(s)



a combination of adapter and automation pack

The adapter list is not a list of supported integrations. In fact, it is almost never necessary to write an adapter to

achieve integration in the field. Through Process Orchestrator’s service-oriented automation, one can model any

service in content. Automation content can leverage many existing adapters that are designed to make enable

integration scenarios, including:



Web Service integration – Process Orchestrator supports both SOAP and REST based web services.

Most modern applications typically provide web services. For integration with application APIs which are