Import Runbooks from System Center Orchestrator into Service Manager

Service Manager integrates with Orchestrator, providing the capability to synchronously invoke runbooks from within Service Manager using workflows. This capability provides integration between Orchestrator automation capabilities with the Self-Service Portal and business modeling capabilities. When this capability is combined with the Service Manager Service Catalog stack, it's possible to create an end-user-facing request offering with an Orchestrator runbook as part of the fulfillment process.

Activities that make up a service request can be mapped to runbook activities, which in turn are mapped to an Orchestrator runbook. For example, the parameters that are necessary for a custom start activity to invoke a runbook in Orchestrator, such as a computer name, can go into as Service Manager as objects. You start this process by importing runbook objects into the Service Manager database using an Orchestrator connector. After you import runbooks into Service Manager, they appear in the Library node in the Administration workspace.

Note

Ensure that you've installed the ADO.NET Data Services Update for .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 (SP1), as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 976127. For more information, see ADO.NET Data Services Update

Create an Orchestrator connector and validate its creation

You can use the following procedures to create a connector for System Center - Orchestrator and then validate the creation of the connector.

Create an Orchestrator connector

1. In the Service Manager console, select Administration.

2. In the Administration pane, expand Administration, and select Connectors.

3. In the Tasks pane, under Connectors, select Create Connector, and select Orchestrator connector.

4. Perform these steps to complete the Orchestrator Connector Wizard:

   1. On the Before You Begin page, select Next.

   2. On the General page, in the Name box, enter a name for the new connector. Ensure that Enable this connector is selected, and select Next.

   3. On the Connection page, in the Server Information area, enter the URL of the Orchestrator Web service.

      1. Enter the URL of the Orchestrator Web service in the form of http://computer:port/Orchestrator/Orchestrator.svc, where computer is the name of the computer hosting the web service and port is the port number where the web service is installed. (The default port number is 81.)

   4. On the Connection page, in the Credentials area, either select an existing account or select New, and then do the following:

      1. In the Run As Account dialog, in the Display name box, enter a name for the Run As account. In the Account list, select Windows Account. Enter the credentials for an account that has rights to connect Orchestrator, and select OK. On the Connection page, select Test Connection.

         Note

         Special characters (such as the ampersand [&]) in the User Name box aren't supported.

      2. In the Test Connection dialog, ensure that the message The connection to the server was successful appears, and select OK. On the Connection page, select Next.

   5. On the Folder page, select a folder, and select Next.

   6. On the Web Console URL page, enter the URL for the Orchestrator web console in the form of http://computer:port (the default port number is 82), and select Next.

   7. On the Summary page, ensure that the settings are correct, and select Create.

   8. On the Completion page, ensure that you receive the message Orchestrator connector successfully created, and select Close.

Validate the creation of an Orchestrator connector

1. In the Connectors pane, locate the Orchestrator connector that you created.

2. Review the Status column for a status of Finished Success.

   Note

   Allow sufficient time for the import process to finish if you're importing a large number of runbooks.

3. In the Service Manager console, select Library.

4. In the Library pane, expand Library, and select Runbooks.

5. Review the Runbooks pane, and note that your runbooks have been imported.

Synchronize an Orchestrator connector

To ensure that the Service Manager database is up to date, the Orchestrator connector synchronizes with Service Manager on a daily basis. You can use the following procedures to synchronize the connector manually and validate that the connector synchronized.

Manually synchronize an Orchestrator connector

1. In the Service Manager console, select Administration.

2. In the Administration pane, expand Administration, and select Connectors.

3. In the Connectors pane, select the Orchestrator connector that you want to synchronize.

4. In the Tasks pane, under the name of the connector, select Synchronize Now.

Validate that an Orchestrator connector is synchronized

1. In the Service Manager console, select Connectors.

2. In the Connectors pane, examine the start time and finish time to determine when the synchronization process started and finished.

   Note

   Synchronization events are also written to the Event log in the Applications and Services Logs/Operations Manager folder.

Disable and enable an Orchestrator connector

You can use the following procedures to disable or enable an Orchestrator connector and validate the status of the connector.

Disable an Orchestrator connector

1. In the Service Manager console, select Administration.

2. In the Administration pane, expand Administration, and select Connectors.

3. In the Connectors pane, select the Orchestrator connector that you want to disable.

4. In the Tasks pane, under the connector name, select Disable.

5. In the Disable Connector dialog, select OK.

Enable an Orchestrator connector

1. In the Service Manager console, select Administration, and select Connectors.

2. In the Connectors pane, select the Orchestrator connector that you want to enable.

3. In the Tasks pane, under the connector name, select Enable.

4. In the Enable Connector dialog, select OK.

Validate the status change of an Orchestrator connector

• In the middle pane, locate the connector for which you've changed status, and then verify the value in the Enabled column.

Next steps

Learn how to Import data from VMM.