Use Azure Automation to trigger a job

Caution

ACTION REQUIRED: StorSimple Data Manager, StorSimple Device Manager, StorSimple 1200, and StorSimple 8000 have reached their end of support. End of support details were published in 2019 on the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy and Azure Communications pages. Additional notifications were also sent via email and posted on the Azure portal and StorSimple documentation site. Contact Microsoft Support for additional details.

This article explains how you can use the data transformation feature within the StorSimple Data Manager service to transform StorSimple device data. You can launch a data transformation job in two ways:

• Use the .NET SDK
• Use Azure Automation runbook

This article details how to create an Azure Automation runbook and then use it to initiate a data transformation job. To learn more about how to initiate data transformation via .NET SDK, go to Use .NET SDK to trigger data transformation jobs.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

• Azure PowerShell installed on the client computer. Download Azure PowerShell.
• A correctly configured job definition in a StorSimple Data Manager service within a resource group.
• Download DataTransformationApp.zip file from the GitHub repository.
• Download Trigger-DataTransformation-Job.ps1 script from the GitHub repository.

Step-by-step procedure

Set up the Automation account

1. Create an Azure Run As automation account in the Azure portal. To do so, go to Azure marketplace > Everything and then search for Automation. Select Automation accounts.

   

2. To add a new automation account, click + Add.

   

3. In the Add Automation:

   1. Supply the Name of your automation account.

   2. Select the Subscription linked to your StorSimple Data Manager service.

   3. Create a new resource group or select from an existing resource group.

   4. Select a Location.

   5. Leave the default Create Run As account option selected.

   6. To get a link for quick access on the dashboard, check Pin to dashboard. Click Create.

      

      After the automation account is successfully created, you are notified.

      

      For more information, go to Create a Run As account.

4. In the newly created account, go to Shared Resources > Modules and click + Add module.

   

5. Browse to the location of DataTransformationApp.zip file from your local computer, and select and open the module. Click OK to import the module.

   

   When Azure Automation imports a module to your account, it extracts metadata about the module. This operation may take a couple of minutes.

   

6. You receive a notification that the module is being deployed and another notification when the process is complete. The status in Modules changes to Available.

   

Import, publish, and run Automation runbook

Perform the following steps to import, publish, and run the runbook to trigger job definition.

1. In the Azure portal, open your Automation account. Go to Process Automation > Runbooks and click + Add a runbook.

   

2. In Add runbook, click Import an existing runbook.

3. Point to the Azure PowerShell script file Trigger-DataTransformation-Job.ps1 for the Runbook file. The runbook type is automatically selected. Provide a name and an optional description for the runbook. Click Create.

   

4. The new runbook appears in the list of runbooks for the Automation account. Select and click this runbook.

   

5. Edit the runbook and click Test pane.

   

6. Provide the parameters such as the name of your StorSimple Data Manager service, the associated resource group and the job definition name. Start the test. The report is generated when the run is complete. For more information, go to how to test a runbook.

   

7. Inspect the output from the runbook in the test pane. If satisfied, close the pane. Click Publish and when prompted for confirmation, confirm, and publish the runbook.

   

8. Go back to Runbooks and select the newly created runbook.

   

9. Start the runbook. In Start runbook, enter all the parameters. Click OK to submit and start the data transformation job.

10. To monitor the job progress in Azure portal, go to Jobs in your StorSimple Data Manager service. Select and click the job to view the job details.

    

Next steps

Use StorSimple Data Manager UI to transform your data.